JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Paragon Diamonds has sold a number of diamonds recovered during the company's 2013 bulk sampling programme at its flagship Lemphane kimberlite pipe, in Lesotho, including fancy yellow diamonds that achieved values of up to $2 500/ct.
The company said in a statement on Monday that the sale was undertaken as an exercise to test market demand for diamonds recovered at Lemphane, ahead of the near-term start of Stage 1 production.
Stage 1 would involve the extraction of one-million tons of kimberlite and, according to an independent report, was expected to lead to the recovery of over 100 diamonds larger than 9 ct, including ones larger than 100 ct in size.
Paragon chairperson Philip Falzon Sant Manduca said the successful sale of diamonds demonstrated management's focus on ensuring that all relevant stages in the production and sale of diamonds had been tried and tested.
“This ensures that Paragon hits the ground running once mining and distribution operations start in the first quarter of 2015.
“Based on our excellent diamond mining address and the work we have carried out to date, we are highly confident Lemphane will provide Paragon with a source of large high-value diamonds for years to come, giving the company an excellent platform to build a leading and cost efficient diamond house,” he outlined.
In line with this, the company said it had made significant progress on several fronts, including sourcing, designing and approving a new modular processing plant using the latest X-ray recovery technology.
“The current advances in this technology have proved highly successful at other mining operations, increasing recovery of larger stones and significantly enhancing the project economics,” he noted.