TIDMFDI
RNS Number : 6927K
Firestone Diamonds PLC
20 July 2011
Firestone Diamonds plc
Operations update
LONDON: 20 July, 2011
Firestone Diamonds plc, ("Firestone" or "the Company"), the
AIM-quoted diamond mining and exploration company (ticker:
AIM:FDI), is pleased to provide an update on the Company's mining
operations in Lesotho and Botswana.
HIGHLIGHTS
Liqhobong Mine, Lesotho
-- K5
- High quality diamonds recovered from 3,000 tonne
sample of K5 material
- 33 carat white, 9 carat vivid yellow, high quality
8 carat white and 1.7 carat pink recovered
- First pink diamond recovered at Liqhobong
- Confirms the presence of high value diamonds at
the Main Pipe
-- Plant 2
- Letter of intent signed with Dowding Reynard and
Associates for Definitive Feasibility Study and
engineering work for planned 4.2 million tonnes
per annum Plant 2
-- Plant 1
- Continues to operate at its rated capacity of
0.4 million tonnes per annum
BK11 Mine, Botswana
-- Production plant
- Secondary crushing circuit operational since beginning
of July
- Significant increases in diamond liberation and
grade achieved
-- Mining
- Higher grade reserve blocks on Bench 4 exposed
- Further increases in grade expected as Bench 4
material is processed
Diamond Sales
-- Next tender to be held in Gaborone, Botswana, in
late August
-- Sale expected to be significantly larger than the
last tender in June 2011
-- Sale will include high quality diamonds recently
recovered from K5 unit at Liqhobong
Tim Wilkes, CEO of Firestone Diamonds, commented: "We are very
excited about the results of our first tests of the high grade K5
unit at the Main Pipe at Liqhobong. The recovery of high quality
diamonds, including our first fancy yellow and our first pink
diamond, confirms that there is much upside to the value of the
Main Pipe. With mining operations planned to commence at the K5
unit in the second half of 2011, these results augur well for
future production and diamond values from Liqhobong."
Liqhobong Mine, Lesotho
Continued good progress has been made at Firestone's 75% owned
Liqhobong Mine in Lesotho.
K5
Pumping of water from the Main Pipe to the new raw water dam
that has been established at the Satellite Pipe commenced in July
2011, and has enabled some of the K5 ore to be exposed for mining.
Approximately 3,000 tonnes of K5 material has been treated through
Plant 1 to provide an initial indication of diamond quality from K5
and to assess plant performance with the high fines content
contained in K5.
The quality of diamonds recovered was significantly better than
those from the K2 and K4 units that have been mined to date.
Recoveries included four impressive diamonds - a 33 carat white, a
9 carat vivid yellow, a high quality 8 carat white octahedron and a
very attractive 1.7 carat pink diamond. These results confirm the
presence of high quality diamonds at the Main Pipe, in particular
the first pink diamond to be recovered at Liqhobong, and are
particularly significant in that the diamonds were recovered from a
small sample of K5 material.
The K5 unit is the highest grade of the four geological units in
the Main Pipe, with an average resource grade of 45 carats per
hundred tonnes ("cpht"), compared to the average resource grade of
28 cpht for the K2 and K4 kimberlite units that have been mined to
date in 2011. As the K5 unit will be the primary focus for mining
operations for the next two years, this bodes well for continued
increases in production and diamond prices from Liqhobong.
Operationally, the production plant coped well with the K5
material, although some components of the plant were overloaded as
a result of the increased amount of fine material. These problems
will be addressed by the new scrubbing and screening unit that will
be added to the front end of Plant 1, on which work is now almost
complete.
Plant 2
The Company is pleased to report that it has signed a letter of
intent with Dowding Reynard and Associates ("DRA"), under which DRA
will complete the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") and commence
detailed engineering studies for the planned 4.2 million tonnes per
annum ("mtpa") Plant 2. The DFS is scheduled for completion at the
end of 2011. DRA has been associated with a number of large scale
plant design and construction projects in Southern Africa and has
specialised skills and experience in the design of large scale
diamond plants.
Plant 1
Plant 1 has continued to run well, and is consistently operating
at its rated capacity of 0.4 mtpa. DRA will also undertake a review
of the current Plant 1 design with the objective of optimizing its
throughput and efficiency. Plant 1 is scheduled to reach a
production level of 0.65 mtpa in Q3 2011 and 1.3 mtpa in Q1
2012.
BK11 Mine, Botswana
Good progress has also been made at Firestone's 90% owned BK11
Mine in Botswana.
As reported in Q1 2011, a number of problems were encountered
with the crushing and scrubbing circuits at the BK11 plant that
resulted in lower than anticipated diamond liberation from the
material being processed. A secondary crushing circuit based on
mobile crushers was designed to address these problems and this
circuit has been operational since the beginning of July 2011.
Significant increases in diamond liberation and grade have been
achieved during the limited time that the circuit has been
operational, and a detailed update will be provided as more data
becomes available.
Mining operations have now exposed the higher grade blocks of
the reserve on bench 4, and the Company is confident that further
increases in grade will be achieved as this material is processed.
The increased diamond recoveries should be reflected at the next
diamond sale in August 2011.
Diamond Sales
The Company plans to hold its third diamond sale of 2011 during
the last two weeks of August at its diamond sales office at Diamond
Technology Park in Gaborone, Botswana. The sale is expected to be
significantly larger than the last sale in June 2011, and will
include the high quality diamonds recently recovered from the K5
material at Liqhobong.
For further information, visit the Company's web site at
www.firestonediamonds.com or contact:
+44 20 8834 1028/+44 7831
324 645
Philip Kenny, Firestone Diamonds +27 78 457 6623/+267 713
Tim Wilkes, Firestone Diamonds 77686
Rory Scott, Mirabaud Securities
(Nominated Broker) +44 20 7878 3360
Alexander Dewar, Brewin Dolphin
(Nominated Adviser) +44 131 529 0276
Jos Simson / Emily Fenton, Tavistock +44 20 7920 3150/+44 7899
Communications 870 450
Background information on Firestone Diamonds:
Firestone Diamonds plc is an international diamond mining and
exploration company with operations focused on Lesotho and
Botswana. Firestone operates the Liqhobong Mine in Lesotho and the
BK11 Mine in Botswana. Firestone is also the largest holder of
mineral rights in Botswana's diamondiferous kimberlite fields,
controlling approximately 10,000 square kilometres around the major
Orapa and Jwaneng mines and the entire Tsabong kimberlite field. In
addition to Liqhobong and BK11, Firestone has 108 kimberlites in
its portfolio, of which 30 have been proven to be
diamondiferous.
Lesotho is emerging as one of Africa's significant new diamond
producers, and hosts Gem Diamonds' Letseng Mine, Firestone's
Liqhobong Mine as well as the Kao and Mothae development projects.
Botswana is the world's largest and lowest cost producer of
diamonds, with annual production worth over $2.5 billion, and is
considered to be one of the most prospective countries in the world
to explore for diamonds.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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