Two largest diamonds recovered in Saskatchewan
News Desk
Wednesday June 27, 7:00 am ET
Two largest diamonds recovered in Saskatchewan 49.50, 22.56, 5.45 and
5.34 carat diamonds in 205.37 carat parcel
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, SK, June 27 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice
President Exploration and Development, is pleased to announce the
sixth set of diamond results from Phase 3 of the underground bulk
sampling of the Star Kimberlite (Phase 1 being the original 25,000
tonne bulk sample and Phase 2 being the 18,000 tonne bulk sample).
These results include the two largest diamonds (49.50 and 22.56
carats) recovered in Saskatchewan to date (See images and map
available on www.shoregold.com). The diamond recoveries total 205.37
carats from 987.26 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are
results for three kimberlite batches of a total of approximately 50
kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the Phase 3 bulk
sampling program. A total of 689 commercial sized diamonds (greater
than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 205.20
carats, has been recovered from the three batches. Thirty-three
diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four
largest stones are: 49.50, 22.56, 5.45 and 5.34 carats, respectively.
In addition, 8 diamonds (0.17 carats) were recovered down to 0.85
millimetre square mesh. The colour of 71 percent of the diamonds has
been classified as white, with a further 17 percent classified as off-
white.
These kimberlite batches were recovered from the Cantuar Kimberlite,
which was mined at the southwest end of the South 7 drive, some 200
metres southwest of the shaft, within Star West - the portion of Star
within the claims of the Fort a la Corne Joint Venture (FALC-JV: Shore
60 percent, Newmont 40 percent). Diamond results are still awaited
from a total of 1,400 tonnes of Cantuar Kimberlite, of which some 900
tonnes has been processed through the on-site plant and 500 tonnes
remains to be processed. The processing of this Cantuar Kimberlite is
currently underway.
Table 1: Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the three
sample
batches are listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in
carats per
hundred tonnes (cpht).
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Diamonds
Largest
Dry Number of Total
Grade Stone
Batch No. Location Tonnes Stones (carats) (cpht)
(carats)
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South 7 P
(Star West
219 FALC-JV) 306.67 201 48.07
15.67 5.45
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South 7 O
(Star West
220 FALC-JV) 347.88 252 44.48
12.79 3.62
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South 7 N
(Star West
225 FALC-JV) 332.71 244 112.82
33.91 49.50
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Total 987.26 697 205.37 20.80
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Examination of the size frequency statistics for the Star Early Joli
Fou (EJF) and Cantuar diamond populations shows that the Cantuar
population has an even greater proportion of plus one carat goods than
the EJF diamond population. Typically the bulk of the diamond value
lies in the stones that are greater than one carat in size. Forty-four
percent of the carats recovered from the Cantuar are greater than one
carat in size, while 31 percent of the EJF carats are greater than one
carat. The data used to generate these numbers are listed in Table 2.
Table 2: Proportion of Carats greater than 1 Carat for EJF and
Cantuar
Kimberlites at Star
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percentage
Kimberlite Carats greater Carats
greater
Lithology Total Carats than 1 Carat than
1 Carat
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Joli Fou 6,776.06
2,113.16 31.19%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cantuar 1,428.85
622.95 43.60%
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The four largest stones are: 49.50 (Batch 225, Brown), 22.56 (Batch
225, White with a slight yellow tint), 5.45 (Batch 219, Grey) and 5.34
(Batch 219, White) carats respectively. Ten diamonds exceed two carats
and 33 diamonds exceed one carat, of which 18 are white, 6 are off-
white, 7 are grey and 2 are brown. A total of 56 diamonds exceed 0.5
carats. Seventy-one percent of this diamond parcel is classified white
in colour, with a further 17 percent classified as off-white. Ninety-
nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds
greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration and Development, George Read,
states: "The 49.50 carat stone is a fragment of a considerably larger
stone and the crystal shape suggests that less than 50 percent of the
original stone has been recovered. There are multiple breakage
surfaces on this stone and the freshest breakage, probably incurred in
the processing plant, only accounts for a small loss of carat weight.
Fragments comprising 3 carats that are most likely broken from the
49.50 carat stone were found in Batch 225. This large stone confirms
the statistical modeling by Shore geologists (SGF News Release May 12,
2005) that diamonds in excess of 100 carats occur in the Star diamond
population. The high proportion of plus one carat diamonds and the
resultant coarse size frequency distribution for the Cantuar diamond
population will have a positive effect on the economics of this
kimberlite lithology. The two largest stones (49.50 and 22.56 carats)
were both recovered from a coarse breccia unit within the Cantuar.
Present estimates suggest that Star contains some 20 to 23 million
tonnes of Cantuar Kimberlite. This is a geological estimate based on
pattern drilling and is conceptual in nature. This estimate is not a
Mineral Resource and additional work may not lead to the definition of
a Mineral Resource for the Cantuar Kimberlite. The collection of data
which will be used to determine the presence of a National Instrument
43-101 compliant Mineral Resource is proceeding on schedule with the
potential definition of a Mineral Resource on Star in early 2008."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of
kimberlite through the modular Dense Media Separator (DMS), after
which DMS concentrates are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In
order to ensure the recovery of low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort
tailings are processed over a grease table. Flow-sort and grease table
concentrates are transported by a secure carrier to SGS Lakefield
Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS Lakefield Research
process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation, manual
sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research
is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council
of Canada as a testing laboratory for specific tests.
The Star Kimberlite is currently being evaluated using a combination
of pattern core drilling, underground bulk sampling and large diameter
drilling. This evaluation program, with a budget of some $60 million,
will determine the presence of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant
Mineral Reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior Vice President
Exploration and Development, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in
the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified
Person responsible for the verification and quality assurance of
analytical results. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in
the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties.
Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading
symbol "SGF".
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For further information
Adam Buchanan, Manager, Investor and Community Relations, at (306)
667-3503.
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Source: Shore Gold Inc.
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