Stellar to start Baoulé diamond sales before year-end
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused diamond development company Stellar Diamonds expects to start selling diamonds from its Baoulé trial mining project, in Guinea, before the end of this year.
The miner had completed the processing of the first kimberlite sample from the project, following the successful commissioning of the 100 t/h processing plant in September.
Stellar reported on Tuesday that it had recovered 195.57 ct at a grade of 16.8 ct per hundred tons (cpht), compared with the historically reported grade of 13.2 cpht.
This, in addition to the 33.2 ct recovered from lower-grade material during the commissioning of the plant, brought the total recovered carats to date to 228.77 ct.
“Processing of the first kimberlite ore from trial mining at the Baoulé pipe is delivering excellent results. Not only is the grade exceeding our minimum expectations but the recovery of three 5 ct diamonds, two of which are of excellent gem quality and shape, from a 196 ct diamond parcel is outstanding news.
“We believe this suggests that Baoulé has a large stone size distribution, which would be consistent with our expectations, knowing that the Aredor area of Guinea has produced some spectacular stones over many years,” commented Stellar CEO Karl Smithson.
The company pointed out that 57% of the diamonds recovered were of gem quality, with the balance classified as industrial or near gem quality.
“The processing plant, which was commissioned in September, is working well and we will now increase volume throughput over the coming weeks. It is our intention to make a diamond export in November and, thus, begin our cycle of exports and sales for the duration of the trial mining period,” added Smithson.
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