AFRICA — Poplar eyes diamond project

Poplar Resources (PPX-V) intends to begin a bulk-sampling program at the Aardvark and Barkly West kimberlite fissures in South Africa.

The company can earn up to a 60% interest in the diamond projects, which are believed to be similar to diamond fissures being developed by SouthernEra Resources.

The Aardvark and Barkly West projects share a complex system of kimberlite fissures (dykes), with attendant blows (small pipes), as well as minable tailings, alluvial gravels and kimberlite pipes.

Poplar recently added Bernt Honeth, a mining engineer with considerable diamond experience in South Africa, to its board of directors. Honeth will manage the bulk-sampling programs, as well as efforts to expand the two properties through acquisitions and detailed mapping of the current systems.

Poplar also holds diamond projects elsewhere in the world, particularly in Sweden. The junior recently picked up a large land package in the Baltic nation, including ground on which two prospectors recently discovered diamonds.