DIAMOND PAGE — SouthernEra sells first Klipspringer gems — More Angolan diamonds also sold

SouthernEra Resources (SUF-T) has completed the first sale of diamonds from its Klipspringer project in South Africa’s Northern Province.

The company will receive US$573,662 from the sale of a parcel totalling 4,832.56 carats, after deducting applicable fees and charges.

This parcel represents diamonds recovered from the bulk-sampling program carried out on the Leopard fissure at Klipspringer. The buyer was Overseas Diamonds of Israel, which had previously valued the parcel at an average of US$126.29 per carat.

The company reports that the realized value for the parcel is “very encouraging.”

Bulk sampling continues from the underground program, and about 536 carats of stones are on hand from this work. An additional 220 carats of stones have been recovered from bulk-sample processing of material from the Sugarbird fissure and its associated blow (a pipe-like enlargement found where a fissure intersects an area of structural weakness).

The processing of the first 31.5 tonnes of kimberlite from the Marsfontein M1 pipe has yielded a total of 59.87 carats for a recovered grade of 1.89 carats per tonne. The average stone weight is 0.35 carat; larger stones recovered weighed 1.4, 1.47, 1.72, 1.79, 2.24, 2.78 and 3.43 carats.

SouthernEra reports that the quality of the Marsfontein diamonds appears to be higher than that of the diamonds extracted from the Leopard fissure, with mostly clear stones of good color. Occasional fancy-yellow diamonds are present both in the Sugarbird blow and the Marsfontein pipe.

Processing of material from this pipe continues, with 140 tonnes still to be treated. The second pipe at Marsfontein will be bulk-sampled in the coming weeks. Several additional targets on the farm are to be drilled shortly, and additional kimberlite discoveries are expected.

Reverse-circulation drilling on the eastern extension of the Sugarbird fissure has so far confirmed a strike length of more than 5 km.

Meanwhile, in Angola, SouthernEra and its partners have mined 12,090 carats at their Luo concession on the Chicapa River bed. All the production has come from pumping operations using tractor-Mounted pumps with divers operating 6-inch suction hoses along a 2-km stretch of the Chicapa River.

To date, 8,667 carats have been sold for a net value of US$2.94 million, for an average price of US$339 per carat. The remaining production will be sold over the next few weeks. SouthernEra receives 10% of net proceeds from fluvial mining and 35% of the proceeds from floodplain mining.

A new, deep, 1-km-long diversion canal and a 30-Metre-wide earth dyke have been completed. A bridge across the Chicapa has also been constructed so that SouthernEra can commence mechanized mining of the floodplain terrace gravels on the western bank of the river. The plant that will be used to treat these gravels has been constructed and will be flown to Angola shortly.

Once mining of a small section of a diverted river is complete, the river will be channelled along the new diversion canal to allow 1.6 km of riverbed to be pumped dry in a series of compartments. The mining of these compartments will be accomplished by a combination of mechanized mining and pumping. SouthernEra expects a substantial increase in production when floodplain and riverbed mining begins.