Diamond Fields International Ltd.’s initial diamond
production from the indicated resource areas defined under the previously
announced joint operations agreement with Bonaparte Diamond Mines NL
is exceeding expectations.
The diamond recoveries by the MV DF Discoverer, in the DP1 joint
operations area in ML111 off Luderitz, Namibia, are better than expected.
In the area mined to date, more diamonds have been recovered than were
predicted from the grade estimates within the defined indicated resource area
derived from sampling data. A total of 1,448 diamonds weighing 705 carats at
average stone size of 0.49 carat per stone has been recovered in the first
8.5 days of operations.
In addition, mining to date has also shown that the mineralization and
payable grades are more extensive than originally defined by the sampling data,
and mining has thus progressed into some areas not included in the original
resource estimate and mine plans. The diamonds recovered to date continue to
be more than 95 per cent gem quality, and their average size, at 0.49 carat per stone, is
significantly higher than displayed in most deposits delineated to date in the
Luderitz area.
Mine plans comprising 625-square-metre mining blocks (25 m by 25 m) have been prepared
for the seven indicated resource areas in DP1 covering a total area of 315,000 square m
which contain an indicated resource of 63,000 carats.
DFI’s president and chief executive officer, Roger Daniel, said, “These early stage mining
results are very encouraging and at current production levels and with the
larger stone size the joint operations with Bonaparte are generating
substantial cash flow.”
Mr. Daniel, who is a fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy and is also a registered geological scientist with the
South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions and is thus
a qualified person in terms of National Instrument 43-101, has compiled and
reviewed the scientific and technical information contained in this news
release.
