Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) said it was encouraged by the review of historical data from the eight kimberlites in the Orapa field in Botswana, and is now planning to evaluate the identified high interest kimberlites.
The review carried out by Firestone covered historical work carried out by De Beers, Tawana and others on kimberlites BK19 to BK26. Limited sampling from the BK24 kimberlite, which has in excess of 3 ha (hectares) in the area returned grades of up to 5 cpht (carats per hundred tonnes), while kimberlites BK19-22 and BK25-26 were all proved to contain diamonds, though limited work was carried out to determine sizes of the kimberlites of macrodiamond grade.
The planned evaluation programme will include large diameter drill (LDD) sampling on BK24 and geophysical surveys and core drilling on the remaining kimberlites to determine whether any of them warrant further sampling. The work will follow the commencement of production at BK11 in Q2 2010 and will likely be funded through operating cash flows from BK11.
Orapa is covered by the joint venture (JV) announced with Tawana Resources in December 2009, which gives Firestone the option to earn up to an 85% interest in the kimberlites. Firestone can earn a 70% interest in the projects by covering costs for first stage bulk sampling and an additional 15% by funding the projects through to mine development decision if Tawana’s option to fund the remaining 30% interest is not exercised.
Shares in the company rose 3% on the news. http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/12717/firestone-diamonds-plans-to-evaluate-kimberlites-at-orapa-in-botswana-after-historical-data-review-12717.html
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