Vancouver – The final set of diamond recoveries from Shore Gold’s (SGF-T) Star kimberlite pipe, in the Fort a la Corne region of Saskatchewan, returned a number of large stones.
The fourteenth and final bulk sample of almost 3,300 dry tonnes of kimberlite from the Star pipe returned 3,823 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 mm square mesh screen) weighing a total of 544 carats. Eighty-three stones were greater than one carat and nineteen were larger than two carats, including 12.2, 8.5, 6.2 and 5.7 carat diamonds.
Shore Gold’s underground bulk sampling program of the Star pipe, consisting of 95 separate kimberlite batches, has totaled 27,837 dry tonnes yielding 4,049 carats of diamonds.
Initial diamond valuation, completed on the first 3,050 carats of the parcel, reported a value of US$135 per carat. The diamond population recovered show a high proportion of white stones and many larger stones (up to 19.7 carats).
The program consisted of onsite kimberlite processing using a modular dense media separation circuit with the concentrate fed through an X-ray Flow-sort for diamond recovery and the tails run over a grease table to capture any low luminosity diamonds. The final concentrates were shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recoveries.
“Statistical analysis of the diamond population size distribution suggests potential for diamonds in excess of 100 carats from the Star Kimberlite,” remarked Shore Gold’s Senior Vice President of Exploration George Read.
The next stage for the company is to launch its pre-feasibility study on the project.
Be the first to comment on "Shore Gold wraps up Star pipe bulk sampling (May 16, 2005)"