Shore Gold Inc (C-SGF) - News Release
Shore Gold releases 10th set of Star diamond recoveries
2004-11-24 17:46 ET - News Release
Shares issued 67,443,328
Close 2004-11-24 C$ 2.90
Mr. George Read reports
STAR DIAMOND PROJECT: OVER 2,394 CARATS TO DATE MORE LARGE DIAMONDS IN 273 CARAT PARCEL
Shore Gold Inc. has released the 10th set of diamond recoveries from the Star kimberlite. The diamond recoveries to date total 2,394.35 carats from 17,928 dry tonnes processed. These results are for six kimberlite batches of a total of about 80 to 100 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the bulk sampling program on the Star diamond project, the aim of which is to recover a parcel of about 3,000 carats for valuation purposes. A total of 2,138 commercial-sized diamonds (greater than 1.18-millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 270.15 carats, has been recovered from the treatment of 1,721.07 dry tonnes of kimberlite. Thirty-four diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are 5.40, 4.93, 4.10 and 4.09 carats, respectively. In addition, 228 diamonds (3.51 carats) were recovered down to 0.85-millimetre square mesh. The colour of 69 per cent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 10 per cent classified as off-white.
These six kimberlite batches (of a total of 56 processed) have been mined from the southeast drive (batches 42A, 42B and 43) and the north drive (batches 39, 41 and 44) developed from the 235-metre shaft station. All of these kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the early Joli Fou-equivalent kimberlite. Results to date have shown that higher diamond grades are associated with the early Joli Fou-equivalent kimberlite than with the late Joli Fou-equivalent kimberlite. The relationships between these two kimberlites types are illustrated in cross-sections available on the Shore Gold website: www.shoregold.com.
Batches 45A, 45B, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51A, 51B and 52 (all from 235-metre level) have been processed on site and the concentrates dispatched to the sorting laboratory for final diamond recovery. Results from these batches are pending. A total of 21,000 dry tonnes has been processed through the on-site DMS plant. All batches processed to date are classified as crater facies volcaniclastic kimberlites.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for six sample batches are listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
Dia- Larg-
monds est
number stone
Batch Dry of Total Grade (car-
No. tonnes stones (carats) (cpht) ats)
39 285.13 447 41.25 14.47 4.09
41 338.90 427 59.78 17.64 4.10
42A 278.32 489 57.13 20.53 5.40
42B 184.32 289 26.75 14.51 2.11
43 344.69 326 42.14 12.23 3.39
44 289.71 388 46.61 16.09 4.93
Total 1,721.07 2,366 273.66 15.90
The four largest stones are 5.40 (batch 42A, yellow), 4.93 (batch 44, grey), 4.10 (batch 41, brown) and 4.09 (batch 39, off-white) carats, respectively. Sixteen diamonds exceed two carats and 34 diamonds exceed one carat, of which 17 are white, eight are off-white, five are grey, three are brown and one is yellow. A total of 94 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. A total of 69 per cent of the total diamond parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 10 per cent classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes nine yellow, three pink and one amber stone. A total of 99 per cent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds greater than 1.18-millimetre square mesh.
Senior vice-president, exploration, George Read, states: "These results continue to confirm the abundance of large stones and the significant proportion of white goods in the diamond population recovered from the Star kimberlite. The largest stone reported in these results is a 5.40-carat, transparent yellow octahedron. To date, bulk sample processing has produced a parcel of 2,394 carats of which 20 per cent are greater than two carats, 31 per cent are greater than one carat and 43 per cent are greater than 0.5 carat. In preparation for diamond valuation, a parcel of 2,025 carats has been acid cleaned in Antwerp, Belgium, and the parcel has been returned to Canada where the valuation will take place. Arrangements have been confirmed with a number of independent diamond valuators who will examine the diamond parcel."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite through the modular dense media separator (DMS), after which DMS concentrates are batch fed through an X-ray flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of low luminosity diamonds, the flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation, manual sorting, and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada as a testing laboratory for specific tests.
Senior vice-president, exploration, Mr. Read, professional geoscientist in the provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the qualified person responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
The Star diamond project was designed to recover a parcel of at least 3,000 carats of diamonds to enable an accurate valuation of the stones. |
