Aim-listed Vast Resources, together with Botswana Diamonds (BOD), has received an independent competent person’s preliminary geological assessment relating to the Heritage concession within the Marange diamond fields of Zimbabwe, in which specific exploration recommendations were made.

As announced on October 4, BOD has entered into an agreement with Vast, under which BOD will be engaged in due diligence, exploration, mining and marketing on the Heritage concession.

The receipt of the geological assessment, coupled with further information obtained from Vast’s due diligence, has prompted the company to proceed to the full joint venture agreement with Red Mercury, which is subject to legal due diligence.

The geological assessment covering the Heritage concession, which is proposed to be jointly operated by Vast and the community trust owned by Red Mercury, highlights that the property – in eastern Zimbabwe – contains several targets for modern alluvial diamond placer deposits.

The grades of the known proximal modern alluvial placers draining the Marange diamond fields elsewhere range from 50 ct per hundred tons (cpht) to 500 cpht, most typically between 100 cpht and 200 cpht.

There is also potential for remnants of the basal Umkondo unit in the Heritage concession, which runs at grades between 100 cpht and 3 000 cpht, elsewhere in the Marange diamond fields, Vast said in a statement.

The next steps will be follow-up fieldwork to investigate the potential of modern alluvial diamond placer deposits and the possibility of the basal Umkondo unit on the Heritage concession.

If results are positive, the fieldwork will be closely followed by pitting, drilling and bulk sampling, which will form part of the prefeasibility studies.

It is estimated that over 60-million carats has been recovered from the Marange diamond fields to date.