Stellar Diamonds Regulatory News (STEL)

28 Mar 2007 07:01

West African Diamonds PLC28 March 2007 162 Clontarf Road Dublin 3, Ireland Tel: +353 1 8332833 Fax: +353 1 8333505 Email: info@westafdiamonds.com www.westafdiamonds.com WEST AFRICAN DIAMONDS plc. 28th March 2007 WEST AFRICAN DIAMONDS ACQUIRES A CONCESSION OVER THE DROUJBA KIMBERLITE AND SURROUNDING GROUND IN GUINEA O The 6 Hectare Droujba kimberlite pipe is reported to have historical grades of between 80-120 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). O There is potential for additional kimberlite pipes on the property in addition to 4.5km of kimberlite dykes, which are reported to run at grades between 60-120cpht. O There are substantial diamondiferous alluvial deposits in the concession. The board of West African Diamonds, the AIM listed diamond explorer anddeveloper (AIM:WAD) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a 22km2exploration permit in the Droujba area of south-eastern Guinea. Included in the concession is the 6 hectare Droujba kimberlite, discovered inthe 1960's. An attempt to mine only reached depths of 20m. The chief reason forthe cessation of mining was reportedly the hard nature of the kimberlite leadingto generally poor recoveries in the treatment plant. The concession has beenheld recently by De Beers, who have exited the country. Droujba is reported tohave historical grades of between 80-120cpht and the adjacent 4.5km Katchakimberlite dyke field has grades of 60-120cpht. Historical reports have given a'resource' of 2.1M carats for the Droujba pipe from surface to 120m. Little isknown of the diamond value of the pipe and dykes but the surroundingdiamondiferous alluvial deposits have values of about $40 a carat. The first stage of work will be a detailed review of historical geological andproduction information with a view to rapidly developing an advanced explorationprogramme on the property. Due to contractual difficulties with a previous employer, Simon Riekert will nottake up the position of Operations Manager in Sierra Leone. James Campbell willcontinue to take executive responsibility for WAD while a new COO is appointed. This statement has been approved by Alex van Zyl, Technical Director. John Teeling, Chairman commented: "This is a very significant acquisition for West African Diamonds. The highgrade Droujba pipe, will be the subject of immediate work using the equipmentand staff which we recently acquired from De Beers. This focus will be on thecommercial possibilities of the Droujba pipe which is of a size and grade tooffer economic potential." Enquiries: West African Diamonds John Teeling, Chairman +353 1 833 2833James Campbell, Deputy Chairman +27 83 457 3724 Corporate Synergy PlcJohn Wakefield +44 (0) 117 933 0020 College HillPaddy Blewer +44 (0) 20 7457 2020Nick Elwes +44 (0) 20 7457 2020 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange