Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds has completed the intensification drilling programme on the Frischgewaagt and Hartbeesfontein farms, which form part of its Thorny River diamond dyke project, in South Africa.
The intensification drilling programme comprised 33 holes and 1 282 m of drilling which, together with previous work, has resulted in a total drilled depth of 3 299 m in five areas on the two farms.
A bulk sampling mining programme will start after the necessary approvals have been received. These are expected during the second quarter of the year.
Botswana Diamonds on Thursday said a bulk sampling target of 3.9 km of linear kimberlite fissure intersection has been identified from the results with intersections of up to 18 m, from 4 m below surface.
Areas hosting possible blows have also been identified and these will form part of the bulk sampling area, which is adjacent to that from which a bulk sample was taken in early 2018, which indicated diamond values of between $120/ct and $220/ct and grades of between 46 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) and 74 cpht.
Following refurbishment, wet commissioning has been concluded on a nearby kimberlite treatment facility where the bulk samples will be processed.
Early-stage work is also progressing on potential secondary diamond deposits in the project area, with a number of targets identified, the miner confirmed, adding that the nearby and worked-out Marsfontein diamond mine was host to eluvial diamond deposits running at grades of 1 433 cpht.