Shore Gold (SGF-T, SHGDF-O) has recovered 64 diamonds weighing more than 1 carat in its most recent bulk sample from the Orion South kimberlite, part of the Fort la Corne joint venture in Saskatchewan.
Based on a sample of 2,957 dry tonnes of kimberlite, the eighth, and final, set of results from the bulk-sampling program yielded 2,573 commercial-sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre mesh screen) weighing 520 carats, with the sample grading 17.6 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
Of these, 64 diamonds weigh more than a carat, with the four largest stones weighing 33, 7, 6 and 3 carats, respectively. Eleven diamonds exceed 2 carats, and 223 diamonds exceeded 0.5 carat. The colour of 38% of the diamonds is white, and another 40% are off-white.
Of the 64 diamonds larger than 1 carat, 17 are white, 25 off-white, seven are grey, eight are brown, four are black and three are yellow. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel is made up by diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetres.
Aggregate recoveries for all eight sets consist of 15,248 diamonds weighing 2,346 carats, from a bulk sample totalling 23,468 dry tonnes of kimberlite, with the sample grading 10 carats per hundred tonnes.
Shore owns 60% of Orion South, which is 60 km east of Prince Albert, with Newmont Mining (NMC-T, NEM-N) holding 40%. The project is 2 km from Shore’s 100%- owned Star diamond project.
The highest grading kimberlite unit at Orion South is the Early Joli Fou (EJF) kimberlite, which grades 17.6 carats per hundred tonnes. The Pense kimberlite unit has much lower grades, at 4.9 cpht, while the transitional EJF-Pense unit grades 10.6 cpht. The average diamond size from the EJF kimberlite unit is 0.18 carat.
One-third of the latest bulk sample, or 8,000 tonnes, came from the EJF kimberlite unit, while half (12,000 tonnes) came from the Pense unit, and most of the rest (3,000 tonnes) came from the transitional Pense/EJF unit.
Some of the bulk sample was mined from depths of 104-148 metres, while the latest sample was mined from a depth of 186 metres. Shore expects a resource estimate for Orion South in mid-year.
In February, Shore released an updated combined resource estimate for its 100%-owned Star project and its 60%-owned Star West joint venture with Newmont. Combined indicated resources total 152 million tonnes grading 13.5 cpht, for 20.5 million carats. Inferred resources stand at 26 million tonnes grading 11.7 cpht, for 3.1 million carats. The diamonds are valued at US$120 per carat, although current prices are probably lower.
On Dec. 31, Shore had current assets of $35.4 million, of which $7.6 million were in receivables. Current liabilities stood at $11.8 million.
On the news, Shore Gold’s shares added 5.5¢ to 44.5¢. The company has 200 million shares outstanding; the shares have traded in 12-month range of 20¢-$3.95.
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