Afri-Can Marine Minerals is commencing its initial sampling program of its block J marine diamond concession, situated 105 kilometres north of Luderitz in Namibia.
The company has contracted De Beers Marine (PTY) Ltd. and its sampling vessel, MV Douglas Bay, to conduct the reconnaissance sampling program. The vessel has left the port of Cape Town on Nov. 19, 2001, and will sail for two days before reaching the concession area. The sampling operations should effectively begin on or before Nov. 22, 2001. This initial sampling phase will provide important metallurgical, environmental and geotechnical information for the identification of diamondiferous areas.
Kim Lord and Dick Foster will represent Afri-Can on board for the duration of the sampling program. Mr. Lord, exploration manager of Afri-Can, is a geologist with 19 years of experience in diamond marine exploration. Afri-Can is using the services of Mr. Foster, an independent consultant with extensive experience in the diamond marine industry. Mr. Foster worked for De Beers for 32 years before retiring in 1996. With De Beers Marine he held the position of geological manager for 11 years and he was involved extensively in the management of exploration and mining programs. He led the teams that discovered major diamond deposits on the mid-continental shelves off South Africa and Namibia. Since 1996, Mr. Foster has been active in providing geological consulting and exploration management services.
block J covers an area of 994 square kilometres measuring approximately 45 kilometres long by 21 kilometres wide in water depths ranging from 70 metres to 167 metres. The concession lies on the northern boundary of the known rich diamondiferous deposits currently being mined along the south and central Namibian west coast. To the south of the project, an inferred resource exceeding four million carats has been estimated for the region between Halifax and Mercury Islands (Marine & Coastal, June 6, 2000).
