(IDEX Online News) – Stellar Diamonds plc, operating in West Africa, has carried out the first blast in its bulk sampling program of its 100-percent owned Tongo kimberlite dyke project in eastern Sierra Leone.

 

The firm said the first ore blast was completed successfully and on schedule and it was aiming for a diamond parcel of up to 2,000 carats to enable better diamond value modeling.

 

The company says that diamonds mined Tongo are of "exceptional quality" with an average price per carat of $248.

 

Chief Executive Karl Smithson described the start of bulk sampling at Tongo as "a significant milestone".

 

"The objective of the bulk sampling program is to obtain a representative diamond parcel for valuation and price modeling which forms an integral part of the feasibility study process. The Tongo Dyke-1 diamonds are of exceptional quality with a 1,140 carat parcel previously achieving a modeled average value of $248 per carat, even though this parcel did not contain any diamonds larger than four carats.

 

In addition to taking the 1.1 million-carat Tongo Dyke-1 resource into the feasibility stage and towards a production decision, the company holds the Droujba project which has a defined 3 million carat resource.