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Gold/Mining/Energy : Kensington Resources Ltd. (V.KRT) * Diamond in the rough! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Boster who wrote (1514)	4/2/1998 10:59:00 PM
From: Lilian Debray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5206

Most of the world's diamond production is for industrial use (drills etc.) since diamonds are the hardest of all gemstones. So there is a market for lower-grade diamonds for both industrial use and jewelry. When 250 tons of ore are blasted, crushed and processed, there is on the average only one carat of rough stone, and out of these one carat stones, only 20% are suitable for cutting into gemstones. So an inventory of 68.8% gems, 20.5% near gems, and 10.7% industrial grade stones is not bad in comparison. Somebody might correct me but I don't think that anything close to 250 tonnes or tons have been drilled at FALC, since this year 130 tonnes was the largest sample tested yet. The Argyle mine in northern Australia, the world's largest producer of diamonds, yielded over 35 million carats in 1991 (over 90% industrial stones). Three other mines in India, West Africa, and the United States have supported local economies with modest diamond production. DeBeers used to have the contract to buy the output from the Miba in Congo, 6.5 million carats of industrial and near gem diamonds valued at US$80 million or US$12.30 per carat in 1996. In Dr. Rombouts' opinion, it is reasonable to expect that the average carat price for many of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites could be in the US$50 to US$100 range.