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RAPAPORT... Stellar Diamonds relocated mining equipment to the Baoule diamond pipe in Guinea to fast-track trial mining for the purpose of generating an early cash-flow, while determining the commercial diamond-grade and value for the project. The explorer anticipates commissioning ore as early as September. A base camp was created and road upgrades and an environmental impact study site visit have been completed.
Internal company modeling suggested that the Baoulé pipe has the potential to host a significant diamond resource, according to Stellar Diamonds' CEO, Karl Smithson. “Stellar has made tremendous progress over the past few weeks toward our objective of bringing the Baoulé kimberlite pipe into trial mining and generating early cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2014,” he said. The Baoulé kimberlite pipe was discovered in 1999 and was subject to drilling and initial bulk sampling, with microdiamond analysis returning grades of between 20 to 40 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht), although bulk sampling yielded lower rates of 7cpht with pan plant and 13cpht with dense media separation technology.
In addition, Stellar stated that its projects in Guinea and Sierra Leone have been unaffected by the Ebola virus and a number of precautionary initiatives where taken to mitigate the risk.
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