Post by Franko10 ™ on Sept 20, 2004 11:33:55 GMT -5
May 27, 2004
STAR DIAMOND PROJECT UPDATE
George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to provide the following update on the rapidly developing Star Diamond Project. Shaft sinking has been completed to 250 metres below surface and the second shaft station has been established on the 235 metre level, where lateral drift development has commenced. In excess of 6,700 wet tonnes of kimberlite have been processed through the on-site plant. Plant concentrates from 6 sample batches have been shipped to an off-site laboratory for diamond recovery. Recovery plant tailings have been shipped to an independent mineral processing laboratory for rigorous audit for free and locked diamonds. As part of the on-going exploration of Shore's Fort a la Corne claim holdings, a 1,231 line kilometre airborne geophysical survey has recently been completed. This survey has been completed in preparation for a drilling program on the Star Kimberlite and additional geophysical targets on surrounding claims.
The shaft has been concrete lined down to 250 metres below surface and sump pumps have been installed in the base of the shaft. Mining activities are now focused on lateral drift development from the station established on the 235 metre level, where development is active on northeast and southeast headings. Drilling, completed ahead of drift development, has provided information on kimberlite type, in addition to geotechnical data necessary for drift development. Drill holes intersected the kimberlite-wallrock interface and confirmed that the kimberlite vent is larger than originally anticipated. Detailed geological mapping of drill core indicates that the drifts will develop into garnet and olivine macrocryst-rich kimberlite breccias
The assembly and commissioning of the LHD scooptram on the 235 metre level has greatly facilitated the mucking of the drifts. Kimberlite batch processing continues through the on-site DMS plant. Over 9,000 tonnes of kimberlite have been mined to date and the plant has processed in excess of 6,700 wet tonnes of kimberlite since it was commissioned in February. Plant modifications completed by Shore Gold technicians have significantly improved the plant performance and the plant is well positioned to deal with increased production from the mining of multiple drifts. Diamond concentrates from six kimberlite batches have been shipped to the off-site, independent laboratory in Canada for final diamond recovery. While some of the early kimberlite batches were large (greater than 1000 tonnes), batch sizes are now limited to 300 tonnes in order to accurately define areas of high diamond grade. Recovery plant tailings, consisting of coarse (+1.00 mm) DMS concentrate that has passed through the X-ray Flow-Sort and over the grease table, have been dispatched to an off-site Canadian minerals processing laboratory for rigorous audit for free and locked diamonds down to 0.85 mm. These tailings samples will be audited with a process that includes sizing, drying, magnetic separation, crushing and hand sorting. This tailings audit is time consuming but is an essential step that will confirm the operating efficiency of the processing plant.
Diamond results will only become available from the laboratory once diamond concentrate sorting and tailings audit results have been completed for each batch sample. Diamond results will be released after this time, once the diamond concentrate sorting and tailings audits have been fully integrated by Shore. Shore Gold anticipates diamond results from the initial kimberlite batches prior to June 24, 2004. Shore Gold holds title to a large group of mineral claims in and around the Fort a la Corne kimberlite field. All Fort a la Corne kimberlites discovered to date have resulted from the drilling of magnetic anomalies. Exploration successes have shown that kimberlites in sedimentary basins can occur as subtle resistivity targets that have low or no magnetic response. As part of the on-going exploration of Shore's Fort a la Corne claim holdings, the Company initiated a 1,231 line kilometre GeoTEM survey (electromagnetics and magnetics) over a large portion of Shore's claim holdings. The GeoTEM survey was flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys with 300 metre spaced north-south lines and 2,000 metre spaced east-west tie lines. The survey has indicated the presence of seven new geophysical targets on Shore's claims, over and above the seven known kimberlites (including Star). One of the new targets has significant size and the GeoTEM results suggest that a known kimberlite, near Star, is substantially larger than originally defined from the magnetic survey. An Australian consulting geophysicist, Dr Jovan Silic who has specific expertise in kimberlite GeoTEM surveys, was retained by Shore for on-site quality control and will complete the detailed interpretation of the survey during the month of June. Targets developed from this survey will be investigated with a drill program scheduled to commence in late July.
The Star Diamond Project is designed to recover a parcel of at least 3000 carats of diamonds to enable an accurate valuation of the stones. Up to
25,000 tonnes of kimberlite will be recovered from the shaft and drifts and processed on site to produce this diamond parcel.
Further details on the spin-out and financing will be released as they are finalized.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shore is a Canadian based corporation focused on advancing the Star Diamond project and engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "SGF".
For further information, please contact Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and C.E.O. or George Sanders, Vice President Corporate Development at (306) 664-2202.
For further information please contact:
Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and C.E.O. or George Sanders, Vice President Corporate Development at (306) 664-2202.
STAR DIAMOND PROJECT UPDATE
George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to provide the following update on the rapidly developing Star Diamond Project. Shaft sinking has been completed to 250 metres below surface and the second shaft station has been established on the 235 metre level, where lateral drift development has commenced. In excess of 6,700 wet tonnes of kimberlite have been processed through the on-site plant. Plant concentrates from 6 sample batches have been shipped to an off-site laboratory for diamond recovery. Recovery plant tailings have been shipped to an independent mineral processing laboratory for rigorous audit for free and locked diamonds. As part of the on-going exploration of Shore's Fort a la Corne claim holdings, a 1,231 line kilometre airborne geophysical survey has recently been completed. This survey has been completed in preparation for a drilling program on the Star Kimberlite and additional geophysical targets on surrounding claims.
The shaft has been concrete lined down to 250 metres below surface and sump pumps have been installed in the base of the shaft. Mining activities are now focused on lateral drift development from the station established on the 235 metre level, where development is active on northeast and southeast headings. Drilling, completed ahead of drift development, has provided information on kimberlite type, in addition to geotechnical data necessary for drift development. Drill holes intersected the kimberlite-wallrock interface and confirmed that the kimberlite vent is larger than originally anticipated. Detailed geological mapping of drill core indicates that the drifts will develop into garnet and olivine macrocryst-rich kimberlite breccias
The assembly and commissioning of the LHD scooptram on the 235 metre level has greatly facilitated the mucking of the drifts. Kimberlite batch processing continues through the on-site DMS plant. Over 9,000 tonnes of kimberlite have been mined to date and the plant has processed in excess of 6,700 wet tonnes of kimberlite since it was commissioned in February. Plant modifications completed by Shore Gold technicians have significantly improved the plant performance and the plant is well positioned to deal with increased production from the mining of multiple drifts. Diamond concentrates from six kimberlite batches have been shipped to the off-site, independent laboratory in Canada for final diamond recovery. While some of the early kimberlite batches were large (greater than 1000 tonnes), batch sizes are now limited to 300 tonnes in order to accurately define areas of high diamond grade. Recovery plant tailings, consisting of coarse (+1.00 mm) DMS concentrate that has passed through the X-ray Flow-Sort and over the grease table, have been dispatched to an off-site Canadian minerals processing laboratory for rigorous audit for free and locked diamonds down to 0.85 mm. These tailings samples will be audited with a process that includes sizing, drying, magnetic separation, crushing and hand sorting. This tailings audit is time consuming but is an essential step that will confirm the operating efficiency of the processing plant.
Diamond results will only become available from the laboratory once diamond concentrate sorting and tailings audit results have been completed for each batch sample. Diamond results will be released after this time, once the diamond concentrate sorting and tailings audits have been fully integrated by Shore. Shore Gold anticipates diamond results from the initial kimberlite batches prior to June 24, 2004. Shore Gold holds title to a large group of mineral claims in and around the Fort a la Corne kimberlite field. All Fort a la Corne kimberlites discovered to date have resulted from the drilling of magnetic anomalies. Exploration successes have shown that kimberlites in sedimentary basins can occur as subtle resistivity targets that have low or no magnetic response. As part of the on-going exploration of Shore's Fort a la Corne claim holdings, the Company initiated a 1,231 line kilometre GeoTEM survey (electromagnetics and magnetics) over a large portion of Shore's claim holdings. The GeoTEM survey was flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys with 300 metre spaced north-south lines and 2,000 metre spaced east-west tie lines. The survey has indicated the presence of seven new geophysical targets on Shore's claims, over and above the seven known kimberlites (including Star). One of the new targets has significant size and the GeoTEM results suggest that a known kimberlite, near Star, is substantially larger than originally defined from the magnetic survey. An Australian consulting geophysicist, Dr Jovan Silic who has specific expertise in kimberlite GeoTEM surveys, was retained by Shore for on-site quality control and will complete the detailed interpretation of the survey during the month of June. Targets developed from this survey will be investigated with a drill program scheduled to commence in late July.
The Star Diamond Project is designed to recover a parcel of at least 3000 carats of diamonds to enable an accurate valuation of the stones. Up to
25,000 tonnes of kimberlite will be recovered from the shaft and drifts and processed on site to produce this diamond parcel.
Further details on the spin-out and financing will be released as they are finalized.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shore is a Canadian based corporation focused on advancing the Star Diamond project and engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "SGF".
For further information, please contact Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and C.E.O. or George Sanders, Vice President Corporate Development at (306) 664-2202.
For further information please contact:
Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and C.E.O. or George Sanders, Vice President Corporate Development at (306) 664-2202.