THE DIAMOND PAGE — Sonora completes plant expansion at South African diamond mine

By April, Sonora Gold (SON-T) expects to have reached design capacity at the Klipdam diamond mine in the Kimberley-Barkly West area of South Africa.

Once this is achieved, the mine is expected to produce 1,000 carats per month, of which 90% are expected to be gem stones.

The Toronto-based company (which plans to change its name to Sonora Diamond this year) recently completed a plant expansion at Klipdam, which has since achieved commercial production.

A 33-carat gem stone was recently recovered at the mine, along with a 17-carat gem stone and several stones weighing up to 11 carats. Since August of last year, the mine has produced three high-quality gems weighing more than 30 carats each, as well as several stones up to 20 carats in size.

Three parcels of diamonds were sold between September 1996 and February 1997, and sale prices are reported to have averaged just under US$600 per carat.