Owner
Post by Franko10 ™ on Oct 11, 2005 14:34:07 GMT -5
Star Diamond Project: Diamond results 10.0, 5.4 and 4.8 carat diamonds in 531 carat parcel
12:52 EDT Tuesday, October 11, 2005
SASKATOON, SK, Oct. 11 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the first set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 531.04 carats from 3,920.84 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for fourteen kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 4,903 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 526.94 carats, has been recovered from the fourteen batches. Fifty diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 10.01, 5.40, 4.76 and 4.64 carats, respectively. In addition, 231 diamonds (4.11 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 60 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white.
All of these kimberlite batches have been mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed south of the shaft. All kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite with grades being expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The lower grade of Batch 79 (8.03 cpht) is due to the small (66.92 tonnes) sample size while the lower grades of Batches 81 (8.29 cpht), 83 (8.70 cpht), 89 (8.67 cpht) and 91 (9.78) result from the localized, fine grained kimberlite units sampled by these batches. To date, 13,000 tonnes of kimberlite have been skipped to surface and over 6,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 93 to 102 (inclusive) have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the fourteen sample batches are listed in the table below.
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Batch Location Dry Diamonds Total Grade Largest
No. Tonnes Number of (carats) (cpht) Stone
Stones (carats)
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79 South 8 66.92 57 5.38 8.03 0.59
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80 South Main 1 103.19 102 20.30 19.67 3.78
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81 South 14C 292.56 283 24.26 8.29 1.79
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82 South 7A 216.25 298 34.16 15.80 2.90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
83 South 8C 383.89 502 33.41 8.70 1.72
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
84 South 15A 377.96 577 52.45 13.88 4.24
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
85 South 7B 255.20 331 52.77 20.68 5.40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
86 South 14A 364.88 693 81.46 22.33 10.01
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87 South 15B 299.89 477 38.73 12.91 1.33
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
88 South
356.41 404 48.07 13.49 4.64
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
89 South 14B 310.60 326 26.92 8.67 0.76
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90 South 13A 274.74 323 34.15 12.43 1.74
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
91 South 14E 275.57 277 26.95 9.78 1.36
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92 South 16B 342.78 484 52.03 15.18 2.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 3,920.84 5,134 531.04 13.54
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The four largest stones are: 10.01 (Batch 86, Grey), 5.40 (Batch 85, Grey), 4.76 (Batch 86, White) and 4.64 (Batch 88, Off White) carats, respectively. Sixteen diamonds exceed two carats and 50 diamonds exceed one carat, of which 16 are white, 14 are off-white, 13 are grey, 6 are brown and 1 is amber. A total of 155 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Sixty percent of this diamond parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes 15 yellow, 6 pink and 8 amber stones. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "The recovery of an additional 15,000 tonnes of kimberlite from the Star underground workings is well advanced. The results from this latest round of bulk samples are consistent with the grades and stone qualities from the previous bulk samples from the Early Joli Fou kimberlite on the 235m level. These results increase our total diamond recoveries to 4,579.85 carats and 38,954 stones from 31,757.38 dry tonnes. The on-site processing plant has been made more efficient with the addition of a tertiary cone crusher. The recent change to a larger (22 millimetre) top screen on the dense media separator (DMS) feed now enables the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. Although interpretation of the diamond size distribution statistics by Shore geologists strongly suggests that the Early Joli Fou diamond population will include stones in excess of 100 carats, the current DMS plant design will only allow the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. The fine grained (and lower grade) kimberlite Batches 81, 83, 89 and 91 reported in this release were specifically processed early with the 18 millimetre top screen, as previous bulk sample results suggested that they would have lower grade and smaller stones. Batch 96 was the first batch processed with the 22 millimetre top screen."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite through the modular 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.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately $44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior Vice President Exploration, George 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. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
>>
For further information: Kenneth E. MacNeill, President & C.E.O. or George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration or Pieter Du Plessis, Project Leader at (306) 664-2202.
12:52 EDT Tuesday, October 11, 2005
SASKATOON, SK, Oct. 11 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the first set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 531.04 carats from 3,920.84 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for fourteen kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 4,903 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 526.94 carats, has been recovered from the fourteen batches. Fifty diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 10.01, 5.40, 4.76 and 4.64 carats, respectively. In addition, 231 diamonds (4.11 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 60 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white.
All of these kimberlite batches have been mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed south of the shaft. All kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite with grades being expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The lower grade of Batch 79 (8.03 cpht) is due to the small (66.92 tonnes) sample size while the lower grades of Batches 81 (8.29 cpht), 83 (8.70 cpht), 89 (8.67 cpht) and 91 (9.78) result from the localized, fine grained kimberlite units sampled by these batches. To date, 13,000 tonnes of kimberlite have been skipped to surface and over 6,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 93 to 102 (inclusive) have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the fourteen sample batches are listed in the table below.
<<
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batch Location Dry Diamonds Total Grade Largest
No. Tonnes Number of (carats) (cpht) Stone
Stones (carats)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
79 South 8 66.92 57 5.38 8.03 0.59
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
80 South Main 1 103.19 102 20.30 19.67 3.78
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
81 South 14C 292.56 283 24.26 8.29 1.79
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
82 South 7A 216.25 298 34.16 15.80 2.90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
83 South 8C 383.89 502 33.41 8.70 1.72
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
84 South 15A 377.96 577 52.45 13.88 4.24
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
85 South 7B 255.20 331 52.77 20.68 5.40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
86 South 14A 364.88 693 81.46 22.33 10.01
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
87 South 15B 299.89 477 38.73 12.91 1.33
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
88 South
356.41 404 48.07 13.49 4.64-------------------------------------------------------------------------
89 South 14B 310.60 326 26.92 8.67 0.76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
90 South 13A 274.74 323 34.15 12.43 1.74
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
91 South 14E 275.57 277 26.95 9.78 1.36
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
92 South 16B 342.78 484 52.03 15.18 2.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 3,920.84 5,134 531.04 13.54
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The four largest stones are: 10.01 (Batch 86, Grey), 5.40 (Batch 85, Grey), 4.76 (Batch 86, White) and 4.64 (Batch 88, Off White) carats, respectively. Sixteen diamonds exceed two carats and 50 diamonds exceed one carat, of which 16 are white, 14 are off-white, 13 are grey, 6 are brown and 1 is amber. A total of 155 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Sixty percent of this diamond parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes 15 yellow, 6 pink and 8 amber stones. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "The recovery of an additional 15,000 tonnes of kimberlite from the Star underground workings is well advanced. The results from this latest round of bulk samples are consistent with the grades and stone qualities from the previous bulk samples from the Early Joli Fou kimberlite on the 235m level. These results increase our total diamond recoveries to 4,579.85 carats and 38,954 stones from 31,757.38 dry tonnes. The on-site processing plant has been made more efficient with the addition of a tertiary cone crusher. The recent change to a larger (22 millimetre) top screen on the dense media separator (DMS) feed now enables the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. Although interpretation of the diamond size distribution statistics by Shore geologists strongly suggests that the Early Joli Fou diamond population will include stones in excess of 100 carats, the current DMS plant design will only allow the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. The fine grained (and lower grade) kimberlite Batches 81, 83, 89 and 91 reported in this release were specifically processed early with the 18 millimetre top screen, as previous bulk sample results suggested that they would have lower grade and smaller stones. Batch 96 was the first batch processed with the 22 millimetre top screen."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite through the modular 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.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately $44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior Vice President Exploration, George 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. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
>>
For further information: Kenneth E. MacNeill, President & C.E.O. or George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration or Pieter Du Plessis, Project Leader at (306) 664-2202.
