Stellar Diamonds Regulatory News (STEL)

6 Sep 2007 07:01

West African Diamonds PLC06 September 2007 UPDATE ON THE BULK SAMPLING OF PIPE 3 SIERRA LEONE • Bulk sampling completed on Pipe 3, Sierra Leone • Results suggest a significant increase in grade The board of West African Diamonds plc, the AIM listed diamonds and preciousmetals explorer and developer (AIM: WAD), is pleased to announce an update onactivities on its wholly owned Pipe 3 project in Sierra Leone. The Dense Media Separator (DMS) plant has completed the audit work on Pipe 3.This builds on the results obtained from the analysis of the 20,000 tonnes ofkimberlite extracted between June 2004 and October 2005. Previous processing ofthe kimberlite yielded 1,075.49 carats (ct) (5,670 diamonds) worth USD198 acarat at a grade of 5.26 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The audit workre-assessed diamond values and grades. • The diamonds from the 2004-5 exercise were re-valued in June 2007 byOverseas Diamonds N.V. at USD228ct. • 553-tonnes of tailings from the Pan Plant 2004-5 sampling campaign werere-treated through the DMS plant and produced 387 diamonds and 43.65 carats.This gives a raw tailings grade of 7.8 cpht. • 387-tonnes of stockpiled untreated kimberlite from Pipe 3 were treatedthrough the DMS plant and realised 618 diamonds and 78.80 carats, giving a rawkimberlite grade of 19.3 cpht. The DMS plant is now being integrated with the 150 tonne per hour (tph) goldplant on our Plant 11 Tailings Resource operation. This project is moving tofinal commissioning, with first production likely to be in the next 4 weeks.Work in the vicinity of Pipe 3 will now focus on a volumetric assessment of Pipe3 and the contiguous kimberlite dyke swarm. A review of the economic options andscoping study for the pipe and dykes is being undertaken. James Campbell, Deputy Chairman, commented: "The latest results from Pipe 3 support the earlier findings that the 'raw'kimberlite probably contains about 19 cpht of high quality diamonds. At a valueof over USD200 per carat, this suggests a value per tonne of ore of about USD40.With the significant increase in the in-situ value, WAD will immediatelycommence work on a scoping study to assess the economic viability of thisincreasingly attractive diamond resource." This release has been approved by Alex van Zyl, Technical Director AfricanDiamonds. Alex van Zyl (B.Sc. Stellenbosch, B.Sc. hons. Pretoria) spent a longcareer in Anglo American in the diamond division, ending up 1990 to 1997 withworldwide responsibility for diamond exploration and evaluation. He was aconsultant to De Beers from 1997 to 2002. Enquiries: West African DiamondsJohn Teeling, Chairman + 353 1 8332833James Campbell, Deputy Chairman +27 83 457 3724 Blue Oar SecuritiesJohn 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