Shore Gold Inc. - Star diamond recoveries exceed 1,100 carats; 6.4 carat diamond in 214 carat parcel
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX-VEN
SHORE GOLD INC.
SASKATOON, SK, Aug. 31 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice
President Exploration, is pleased to announce the fifth set of diamond
recoveries from the Star Kimberlite. The diamond recoveries to date total
1,126.45 carats. These results are for six kimberlite batches of a total of
some 80 to 100 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the bulk
sampling program on the Star Diamond Project, the aim of which is to recover a
parcel of some 3,000 carats for valuation purposes. A total of 2,147
commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen),
collectively weighing 209.85 carats, has been recovered from the treatment of
1,578 dry tonnes of kimberlite. Nineteen diamonds greater than one carat have
been recovered and the four largest stones are: 6.41, 5.16, 4.25 and 3.34
carats, respectively. In addition, 260 diamonds (4.3 carats) were recovered
down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of over 74 percent of these
diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 17 percent classified as
off-white.
These six kimberlite batches (of a total of 28 processed) have been mined
from the Shaft (Batches 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D and 8E) and the Southeast drive (Batch
20) developed from the 235 metre shaft station. All of these kimberlite
batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent
kimberlite. Results to date have shown that higher diamond grades are
associated with the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite than with the Late
Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite. The relationships between these two
kimberlites types are illustrated in cross sections available on the Shore
Gold website: www.shoregold.com. To date, some 20,500 tonnes of kimberlite
have been extracted from Star as part of the bulk sampling program.
Batches 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 (all from 235 metre level) have
been processed on-site and the concentrates dispatched to the sorting
laboratory for final diamond recovery. Results from these batches are pending.
All batches processed to date are classified as crater facies volcaniclastic
kimberlites.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for six sample batches are
listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in carats per hundred tonnes
(cpht).
<<
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Diamonds
Number Largest
Batch Location Dry of Total Grade Stone
No. (metres below surface) Tonnes Stones (carats) (cpht) (carats)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8A Shaft: 207.6-213.6 275.03 416 28.30 10.29 2.59
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8B Shaft: 213.6-219.5 271.86 415 32.91 12.10 6.41
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8C Shaft: 219.5-225.4 268.32 380 30.71 11.45 2.41
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8D Shaft: 225.4-231.4 273.43 438 33.14 12.12 2.08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8E Shaft: 231.4-237.0 256.86 406 39.33 15.31 5.16
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 235 m Level: SE drive 232.97 352 49.75 21.35 4.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 1,578.47 2,407 214.13 13.57
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The four largest stones are: 6.41 (Batch 8B, White), 5.16 (Batch 8E, Off
White), 4.25 (Batch 20, White) and 3.34 (Batch 20, White) carats,
respectively. Eight diamonds exceed two carats and 19 diamonds exceed one
carat, of which 12 are white, 4 are off-white, 2 are brown and one is yellow.
A total of 52 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Over 74 percent of the total diamond
parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 16 percent classified as
off-white. The diamond parcel includes 32 pink, 12 yellow and 11 amber stones.
Over 98 percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds greater
than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "This latest 214
carat parcel brings our total diamond recoveries to date in our bulk sampling
exercise to 1,126.45 carats from a total of 10,924.87 dry tonnes of kimberlite
giving an average grade of 10.31 cpht. However, there are significantly higher
grades for the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite which has the following
statistics: 931.99 carats from 6,371.14 dry tonnes giving an average grade of
14.63 cpht. Current geological estimates based on drilling and underground
mapping indicate that the Early Joli Fou kimberlite accounts for at least 80
percent of the volume of the Star Kimberlite".
The diamond recovery procedure includes on site processing of kimberlite
through the modular dense media separator (DMS), after which DMS concentrates
are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of
low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease
table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure
carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS
Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation,
manual sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research is
accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada as
a testing laboratory for specific tests.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist
in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person
responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
The Star Diamond Project is designed to recover a parcel of at least
3,000 carats of diamonds to enable an accurate valuation of the stones. Up to
25,000 tonnes of kimberlite will be recovered from the shaft and drifts and
processed on site to produce this diamond parcel. Shore is a Canadian based
corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral
properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
trading symbol "SGF".
"The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release"
>>
For further information: please contact Kenneth E. MacNeill, President
& C.E.O.; George Sanders, Vice President Corporate Development or George H.
Read, P. Geo., Vice President Exploration at (306) 664-2202
SHORE GOLD INC. - More on this organization
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