Vancouver – The marine diamond mining vessel recently launched by Diamond Fields International (DFI-T) and Samicor Mining Services has recovered almost 60,000 diamonds, weighing 20,916 carats, in just 22 days, since recommencement of operations off the southern coast of Namibia.
Diamond production will be equally split between Diamond Fields and Samicor, less a 10 percent royalty to the Namibian government. Quality of the stones remained consistent to previous recoveries with 95% being gem quality.
Initial mining targeted the western limb of the Marshall Fork deposit. A previous feasibility study on Marshall Fork (ML 111) reported an indicated resource of 1.1 million carats and a grade of 1.01 carats per square metre.
Recovered grades during June’s mining exceeded expectations by over 150%. Additionally, several large stones greater than 5 carats were recovered, including one gem quality stone of over 12 carats.
Diamond sales from the company’s marine operations in 2003 returned an average value of US$143 per carat. Based on that figure, it is anticipated this initial parcel of diamonds will have a value of about US$3 million.
Samicor’s 104 metre, 3,300-ton vessel Kovambo demonstrated excellent operating capability and efficiency with 80-90% uptime during the period.
On its other mineral projects, the company recently expanded its Greenland property holdings and launched the summer exploration program targeting nickel, copper and platinum group metals. Additionally, a ten-hole drill program on the Ogna nickel-copper project in Norway has been completed and results are anticipated soon.
As of the latest figures, Diamond Fields reports 67.9 million shares outstanding.
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