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20 October
1997 In response to your query and further to our announcement on 17 October 1997 (reporting the recovery of a further 25 gem quality diamonds averaging 6 to the carat from two shallow open cuts at the Alfredia Mine at the Staggy Creeek Diamond Field), details of the recovery are as follows: The
diamonds were produced from two trenches:
The lower cutoff size used in the Copeton Diamond Plant is 1.5mm. All stones recovered are gem quality. Walter
Penninger
The Company is pleased to report the recovery of a further 25 gem quality diamonds averaging 6 to the carat from two shallow open cuts at the Alfredia mine at the Staggy Creek Diamond Field. The Company had previously reported the recovery of 122 diamonds weighing 23.5 carats from a 40 metre central trench near an old shaft at the mine, with the result of processing averaging approximately 8 carats per 100 tonnes. The result announced today comes from two trenches: one located 75 metres to the west of the central trench, and the other located 150 metres to the east of the central trench. At both trenches, the diamonds recovered from processing to date averaged approximately 1 carat per hundred tonnes. Preliminary thin section analysis has revealed the rocks from which the diamonds have been rcovered to be extremely altered igneous rocks, not previously recognised as a primary source of diamonds. Although the grade of the two trenches was lower than the central trench, the latest results are regarded as encouraging given the spacing of the trenches and the apparent continuation of the mineralisation at depth. Work at Staggy Creek has been adversely affected by weather in recent weeks, but is now resuming with material mined being transported to the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant. Walter
Penninger Details of stockpiles and diamonds recovered in the Doctors Workings Open Cut are outlined below. The
diamonds were produced during a mining operation. The stockpiles from
which they were recovered included several different rock types, including
overburden and bedrock, and were not extracted in the manner of a sample
suitable for reporting as Exploration Results.
The lower cutoff size used in the recovery was 1.55mm. All stones recovered are of gem quality. Peter
Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announce that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant has recovered a further 80 gem quality diamonds from the Doctors Workings Open Cut weighing a total of 16.15 carats. This brings the total diamonds recovered from the doctors Workings to a total of 124, weighing 27.54 carats. During the course of excavations, a boulder bed was intersected which is dipping into the hill at the face of the open cut and the Company has commenced a tunnel to gain access to this material underground. A second trench has now been completed at the Staggy Creek Diamond Field and the material is currently being trucked to the Company’s Copeton Diamond plant for processing later this week. For further information please contact Walter Penninger of Peter Kennewell on (02) 9482 4655. Walter
Penninger
The Company is pleased to announce that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant has recovered a further 36 gem quality diamonds from a shallow open cut at the Alfredamia mine at the Staggy Creek diamond field. The diamonds weighed a total of 7.70 carats averaging 5 to the carat. The largest diamond recovered was a 0.63 carat light yellow diamond. The diamonds were recovered from processing of approximately 150 tonnes of material. The material mined came from an area at the end of the trench from which the Company reported recovering 86 diamonds weighing 15.84 carats last week. The Staggy Creek Diamond Field lies approximately 18 kilometres north west of the Copeton Diamon Plant and was mined in the early 1900’s with shallow surface workings extending over an area of 270 metres by 90 metres and approximately 10,000 carats of diamonds reported as recovered. For further information please contact Walter Penninger or Peter Kennewell on (02) 9482 4655 or 0419 443 180. Walter
Penninger
The Company is pleased to announce that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant has yesterday recovered 86 gem quality diamonds from its first shallow open cut at the Alfredia mine at the Staggy Creek diamond field, which is located 18 kilometres northwest of the Straek of Luck area and the Company’s diamond plant at Copeton. The diamonds weighed a total of 15.84 carats, averaging 5 to the carat.The largest diamond recovered was a 0.76 carat white diamond. The diamonds were recovered from processing of approximately 200 tonnes of material. this is the first material processed from Staggy Creek by the Company and the results are regarded as very encouraging. The material mined came from a 35 metre long and 4 metre deep trench dug in an area of old surface workings. The trench intersected a number of different rock units including material of volcanic origin. A number of these rock units are considered by the Company as a potential primary source for the diamonds at Staggy Creek and elsewhere on the Copeton field. At this stage it is unclear which of the rock units was the source of the diamonds in the material mined and treated. Work at Staggy Creek will now focus on selective mining and processing of the individual rock units at Staggy Creek with a view to isolating the occurence of diamonds. The Staggy Creek Diamond Field was mined in the early 1900’s with shallow surface workings extending over an area of 270 metres by 90 metres and approximately 10,000 carats of diamonds were reported as recovered. Geophysical work and drilling undertaken in 1995 outlined a number of large annomalies both underlying the old workings and removed from them, which have yet to be fully investigated. The reults of the selective mining will determine the program to further investigate these annomalies. The results at Staggy Creek together with the recovery in recent months of 161 gem quality diamonds weighing 33 carats from Wonderland, (which lies 3kms south east of Staggy Creek) and of 690 gem quality diamonds weighing 150 carats from Mount Ross (which lies 18kms south east of Staggy Creek) confirms the widespread occurrence of diamonds at the Copeton Diamond field. Further more, based on studies of the surface features of the diamonds, the Company believes that the diamonds recovered are derived from an as yet undiscovered volcanic origin in close proximity to where the diamonds were mined. It is envisaged that selective mining of the rock units at Staggy Creek may assist the Company in discovering the elusive primary source of the diamonds in the Copeton Diamond Field. P. Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announce that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant yesterday recovered a further 75 gem quality diamonds from the Streak of Luck Open Cut weighing a total of 13.6 carats. The largest stone was a white diamond weighing 0.62 carats. The diamonds were recovered from the same boulder bed of the Streak of Luck open cut where the Company last week announced the recovery from approximately 25 tonnes of diamond bearing material from this area were processed with the recovery of 75 gem quality diamond with a grade of 54 caratsper hundred tonne. The Boulder Bed from which the diamonds were recovered is dripping into the hill at the gace of the Streak of Luck open cut and during the course of mining the Company last week broke into caverous old workings. A face of unworked material is availabe underground at the end of these old workings and the Company is working to gain access to this material underground by tunnel from the bottom if the Streak of Luck open pit. The Company also plans to sink a new shaft to 35 metres to intersect the diamond bearing horizon. To assist with shaft sinking and ore haulage the Company has purchased a high capacity snuffler to supplement its underground mining equipment. The snuffler is now on site and being overhauled prior to commencing work. The shaft will be located approximately 350 metres north of the Streak of Luck open cut area. P. Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announces that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant yesterday recovered a further 69 gem quality diamonds from treatment of mullock and tailings from shafts in the Depp Shaft area. The daimonds weighed a total of 21.83 carats. In addition 1 large industrial diamond weighing 2.13 carats ws recovered. The largest gem quality stone was a white diamond weighing 1.07 carats. Approximately 160 tonnes of mullock and tailings were mined and processed giving a grade of 15 carats per hundred tonnes with the diamonds recovered weighing an average of 3 per carat which is larger than average for the Copeton area. As announced yesterday the Company is planning to shortly sink a shaft in the area immediately to north of the Deep Shaft area and the recovery of the diamonds from the mullock and is significant in providing confirmation of the size and quality of the diamonds in the area in the shaft is to be sunk. The grade recovered from the tailings and mullock also provides some further support for the reported historic grades of 1 - 6 carats per having been commonly mined at the turn of the century in this area. P. Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announce that the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant has today recovered a further 84 gem quality diamonds from its shallow open cut in the Wonderland area. The diamonds weighed a total of 14.86 carats. The largest diamond recovered was 0.57 carat white diamond. The diamonds were recovered from processing of two different materials: - 78 gem quality diamonds weighing 14.11 carats were recovered from a red sand and gravel at the 2-4 metre deep open cut. Approximately 84 tonnes of this material was mined and transported 17 kms to the Company’s Copeton processing facility were it was processed giving an excellent open cut grade of 16.8 carats per hundred tonnes, with the diamonds recovered weighing on average 5.5 per carat. - 6 gem quality diamonds weighing 0.75 carats were recovered from 250 tonnes of a red-brown volcaniclastic material mined from Wonderland which was being assesed as a potential primary source rock. At this stage the significance of the recovery is uncertain due to the possibility of contamination of the material during mining. Wonderland lies approximately 15kms north west of the Streak of Luck area, where the Company yesterday announced the recovery of a further 244 diamonds weighing 44.5 carats. The Company commenced mining and processing of material from Wonderland only last month and has previoulsy announced the recovery of 77 diamonds weighing 19.1 carats from Wonderland, with a grade of 7-8 carats per hundred tonnes. To reduce transport costs, the Company is looking to establish a seperate processing plant within close proximity to Wonderland to treat further material from the Wonderland, Oakey Creek and Staggy Creek diamond deposits. Excavation of a bulk sample of material has already commenced and is expected to continue for the next month. P. Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announce that during the past week the Company’s Copeton Diamond Plant recovered a further 244 gem quality diamonds from the Streak of Luck area weighing a total of 44.5 carats. The largest stone was a fancy yellow diamond weighing 0.94 carats. The material was mined from a boulder bed at the Streak of Luck open cut which had extensive old workings. aprroximately 40 tonnes of diamond bearing material from this voulder bed was processed with the recovery of 226 gem quality diamonds weighing 37.9 carats. Of the diamonds recivered there were 111 yellow diamonds, 109 white diamonds and 6 champagne diamonds, A further 18 diamonds were recovered from treatment of tailings in the area. The Company belives that the rich grade of the boulder bed of just under 1 carat of diamonds per tonne confirms reaported historic grades of 1-6 carats per tonnes having been commonly mined at the turn of the century in this area and the Deep shaft area immediately to the north. The Boulder Bed from which the diamonds were recovered is dipping into the hill at the face of the Streak of Luck open cut towards the Deep Shaft mine. To access these expected higher grade areas the Company now plans to sink a shaft immediately to the north of the Deep Shaft mine in an area which historical reports and recent drilling indicate an absence of old workings. Reports of mining at the turn of the centtury suggest that rich grades of diamonds can be expected in this area with the largest diamond recovered from an adjacent area being recorded as 5.5 carats and numerous stones over 2 carats being reported. The Company plans to sink the shaft to 35 metres to intersect the diamond bearing horizon. To assist with shaft sinking and ore haulage the Company has purchased a high capacity snuffler to supplement its underground mining equipment. It is expected that the snuffler will be on site by the end of the week and that the shaft will be completed within 2-3 months at which stage driving on the diamond bearing horizon will commence. P. Kennewell
The Company is pleased to announce that processing of a further 91 tonnes of sands and gravels from Wonderland resulted in the recovery of 24 gem quality diamonds and one 1.7 carat boart weighing a total of 7.3 carats. The largest of the gem quality diamonds was a 0.94 carat white stone. To date 77 diamonds have been recovered from processing of material from Wonderland. The 1.7 carat boart is the largest stone recovered in the Company’s program to date. The Company is currently mining red-brown volcaniclastic material from Wonderland and expects to process 150 tonnes of this material shorlty to determine whether this is the primary source of the diamonds recovered. The Company has a further 500 tonnes of sands and gravels from Wonderland stockpiled and will be processing this during the course of the next month to further test the grade of these sands and gravels. Copeton Diamond Project - Recovery of further 33 diamonds weighing 10.1 carats. During the week processing of mullock dumps from the Streak of Luck - Deep Shaft area has resulted in the recovery of 33 gem quality diamonds weighing 10.1 carats. The largest stone was 0.94 carats with other large stones being 0.88 carats, o.87 carats and 0.77 carats. The result is confirming historical reports of larger sized diamonds in this area which is the target of the Company’s planned underground mine. P. Kennewell |