Stornoway Diamond Corporation says an revised mineral resource estimate for its Renard diamond mine shows a 14-percent jump in its Indicated Mineral Resource of 27.1 million carats since the last estimate in January 2011.
There was a successful conversion of 2.3 million carats (7.86 million tonnes at 29.3 carats per hundred tonnes) of near-surface Renard 65 Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources, representing kimberlite amenable to open-pit mining to a depth of 150 meters.
There is a total Inferred Mineral Resource of 16.9 million carats, a 3.5 percent decrease compared to the previous estimate, as increased estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources at Renard 2, 4 and 9 partially offset the conversion of material from the Inferred to the Indicated category at Renard 65.
There is an extra 25.7 to 47.8 million carats (54.6 million tonnes to 74.9 million tonnes) have been designated a “Target for Further Exploration” to 775 m depth, below which each kimberlite remains open.
President and CEO of Stornoway, Matt Manson, said: “We are pleased to be able to confirm the successful conversion of a large part of the Renard 65 kimberlite to the Indicated Resource category, for its inclusion in the Renard mine plan. This open pit ore will allow us to utilize the designed expansion capacity of our plant from 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes per day, and is expected to provide for an extended reserve tail for the project."