CMKM Diamonds Inc. (fka CMKX)

[Ignutz]

Details on diamonds on the way
By Barry Glass/Herald Staff
Saturday, January 15, 2005

Only a few weeks are left until one of the biggest announcements about diamonds near Prince Albert is made.
Shore Gold Inc. has collected more than 3,000 carats of diamonds from its Fort a la Corne site. A valuation for the parcel will be made public in February.

George Read, senior vice-president of exploration, spoke at a Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce lunch Friday about the company’s progress and its outlook.

“It’s a very exciting time for Prince Albert,” he said.

Diamond deposits are judged on the average number of carats per hundred tonnes of ore, as well as on the average value per carat, he said. The parcel processed so far shows an average grade of about 14 carats per hundred tonnes.

Read estimated the value of one carat at US $125. But he said that figure, which he used for the sake of comparing Shore’s project to proven diamond resources, is probably a conservative one.

The value of the diamond parcel will be estimated by a number of independent experts and the figures released shortly after Shore has those results, said Read. If the results are favourable, Shore will move to the pre-feasibility stage. Assuming the property is eventually proven feasible, then a mine would be five years away, said Read.

“Shore Gold is making every effort to move this forward as quickly as possible,” he said.

He estimated a mine would have a minimum 20-year life if it goes ahead.

Chamber members asked whether local businesses are able to provide the support Shore needs.

“Certainly we have made an effort to source locally,” said Read.

He added that recently some high precision bolts were urgently needed for operations and Shore was able to get them machined in Prince Albert.

Almost all the people working on the site are from Saskatchewan, said Read.

Any new business that might develop here would depend on how investors and entrepreneurs respond in the event a mine is feasible, he said. A diamond cutting industry was developed in Yellowknife in response to diamond mines in the Northwest Territories, Read noted as an example.

What’s happening in Fort a la Corne is only a part of the diamond industry in the country.

“Canada is poised to become the world’s greatest diamond producer,” said Read. Canada is currently third in production in terms of value, behind Botswana and Russia, but could be number one in 15 to 20 years, said Read.


http://www.paherald.sk.ca/