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Gold/Mining/Energy : ASHTON MINING OF CANADA (ACA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Famularo who wrote (6443)	10/31/1998 1:38:00 PM
From: Jesse	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7966

Thanx for the post, Frank! -- Gord has offered a link to a page discussing some of the economic considerations of a diamond mine: ei.gov.bc.ca <begin quote> ECONOMIC FACTORS TYPICAL GRADE AND TONNAGE: When assessing diamond deposits, grade, tonnage and the average value ($/carat) of the diamonds must be considered. Diamonds, unlike commodities such as gold, do not have a set value. They can be worth from a few $/carat to thousands of $/carat depending on their quality (evaluated on the size, colour and clarity of the stone). Also, the diamond business is very secretive and it is often difficult to acquire accurate data on producing mines. Some deposits have higher grades at surface due to residual concentration. Some estimates for African producers is as follows: Pipe Tonnage (Mt) Grade (carats/100 tonne) Orapa 117.8 68 Jwaneng 44.3 140 Venetia 66 120 Premier 339 40 one carat of diamonds weighs 0.2 grams ECONOMIC LIMITATIONS: Most kimberlites are mined initially as open pit operations; therefore, stripping ratios are an important aspect of economic assessments. Serpentinized and altered kimberlites are more friable and easier to process. END USES: Gemstones; industrial uses such as abrasives. IMPORTANCE: In terms of number of producers and value of production, kimberlites are the most important primary source of diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have become increasingly important as alternate source for abrasives. <end quote> -- {lots more interesting to read at the above link} ==== Again, Alberta logistics mean extraction and processing costs will be very low. Ashton's enormous (++tonnage), near-surface pipes which prove economic will be big winners in this respect. Seems we can expect relatively high carat valuations too. This discovery is real, kids. And these boys play for keeps. Happy Hallowe'en! Regards, -j :> ps, anyone feel free to add to this. ^ - Also, more here re. ACA in AB: Message 6042811