Stellar Diamonds: drilling underway at Droujba Kimberlite pipe in Guinea

Stellar Diamonds plc, the London listed (AIM:STEL) diamond mining and exploration company focused on West Africa, announces the commencement of drilling of the diamond bearing Droujba kimberlite pipe in Guinea.
Highlights:
• 20 hole (30,000m) diamond drilling programme has commenced at Droujba pipe
• Trial mining and drilling in 1960s to 20m depth with grades of up to 200cpht reported
• Microdiamond analysis to be undertaken on selected kimberlite core
• Geophysical surveys suggest the Droujba pipe is potentially larger than previously thought
• Other unresolved geophysical anomalies to be drilled which may result in new kimberlite discoveries
• A 270-carat stone was reportedly discovered in alluvial gravels near Droujba
Karl Smithson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We are very pleased to commence the drilling programme on the Droujba pipe. Over the next few months we will be defining the geological model of the pipe to a depth of 150m and collecting representative samples for microdiamond analysis by the Saskatchewan Research Council laboratory in Canada. The results of this work will enable us to model and forecast the macrodiamond (commercial) grade of the pipe which, if positive, will give us the incentive to undertake a larger-scale bulk sample of the kimberlite pipe in order to more accurately determine the diamond grade and value. In addition, we will also drill some unresolved geophysical anomalies with the objective of discovering new kimberlites in proximity to Droujba."

Droujba Kimberlite Pipe
This Droujba kimberlite pipe is located approximately 50km to the south east of Stellar's Mandala mine. The pipe was discovered in the early 1960's by the Russian Aid Mission, which mapped and drilled the pipe and determined it to be approximately 120m x 80m in size, or 1 hectare. The Russians mined the kimberlite down to a depth of 20m before the kimberlite became too hard to mine and process with the technology utilised at that point in time. In 1964 the Russian Aid Mission left Guinea and the pipe has remained undeveloped since. Diamond grades as high as 200cpth are reported by the Russians, though there is no information on diamond quality. However, a 270-carat stone is reported to have been discovered in the alluvial gravels near to the pipe.

Ground geophysical surveys
A series of ground magnetic, electro-magnetic and gravity surveys have previously been undertaken by Stellar and West African Diamonds plc. These surveys indicate that the size of the Droujba pipe could be twice as large as originally mapped by the Russian explorers, with the potential for a "blind" extension to the south west of the known pipe. Other geophysical anomalies suggestive of undiscovered kimberlite pipes will also be drilled as part of this programme.

Drill programme
Stellar has signed a contract with E-Global Drilling Corp, a subsidiary company of Energold Drilling Corp, a TSX-V listed drilling and drill services company (TSXV:EGD), for a minimum 3,000m diamond drilling programme over the Droujba kimberlite pipe. The EGII rig can drill core of 5.61cm in diameter to depths of 400m. Stellar plans a series of angled and strategically positioned drill holes to model the Droujba pipe to a depth of 150m. In addition a number of high-priority geophysical targets will be drilled to determine if they represent undiscovered kimberlites within the Droujba kimberlite cluster.

Kimberlite core, representing the main internal units or facies of the pipe, will be sampled in batches of 200kg and consigned to the Saskatchewan Research Council laboratory in Canada for microdiamond analysis. Based on these results an independent diamond consultant will be retained to undertake diamond grade modelling work with the objective of forecasting the potential commercial diamond grade of the Droujba pipe.

This article was originally posted on Africa Oil & Mining Network

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