Australian junior Gibb River Diamonds has hailed the release of a maiden inferred resource for its E9 Main Lights stockpile as a significant milestone that provides evidence of the potential for the Ellendale project, in Western Australia, to provide a new source for fancy yellow diamonds.
The Main Lights stockpile has a resource of 5.2-million tonnes at a grade of 1.26 carats per hundred tonnes for 66 200 ct.
The Ellendale project was one of the world’s biggest diamond producers from 2006 to 2015, supplying more than 50% of the world’s fancy yellow diamonds.
Ellendale 9 diamonds were previously subject to an offtake deal with Tiffany & Co, which paid a premium for the fancy yellow component of the E9 diamonds, Gibb River said on Wednesday.
While it was uncertain if similar premium prices could be achieved with any future fancy yellow goods, there was a potential opportunity to capitalise on the uniqueness of these fancy yellow goods to sell at above-market prices.
The diamond valuations and fancy yellow component of the Main Lights stockpile were similar to the main Ellendale 9 run-of-mine results from previous mining.
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