,Shore Gold Inc. released in June a NI 43-101 compliant
resource estimate on the Star kimberlite that includes indicated
resources of 122.7 Mt at a grade of 0.136 ct/t and
inferred resources of 30.3 Mt at a grade of 0.131 ct/t. In
addition to this estimate, a further 100-120 Mt of Star kimberlite
grading between 10 and 13 ct per 100 t is designated
a “potential mineral deposit.” About 60% of this resource is
part of Shore Gold’s Star property while the rest, named
Star West, is part of the Fort-à-la-Corne joint venture
(FALC-JV) owned by Shore Gold’s wholly owned subsidiary,
Kensington Resources Ltd. (60%) and Newmont Mining
Corp. of Canada Ltd. (40%). Based on the resource
estimate, a proposal for the development of a joint Star-
Orion South diamond project was submitted in November
to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment. The project
includes an open pit on the Star kimberlite, a potential
second pit at Orion South (see details in the paragraph
below), a common processing plant, and associated infrastructure.
The overall modeled price estimate on Star kimberlite
diamonds determined by WWW in March 2008 was
US$172/ct with a low value of US$141/ct and a high value
of US$225/ct. A 2009 budget of $17.9 million is earmarked
for the preparation of a prefeasibility study for the Star diamond
project for the completion of a feasibility study by
the first quarter of 2010. Assuming the company completes
the feasibility study for the project in 2010 and the environmental
assessment and permitting stages run smoothly, the
deposit could be brought into production as early as 2013.
The nearby Fort-à-la-Corne diamond project owned bythe FALC-JV is one of the largest diamondiferous clusters
in the world with over 60 kimberlite bodies identified on
the property. During 2008, the FALC-JV proceeded with
large-diameter diamond (LDD) drilling programs on the
Orion South (OS), Orion North, and Star West kimberlites,
and with shaft sinking on the OS kimberlite to collect a
5000-ct diamond parcel sufficient for an initial NI 43-101
resource estimate of the OS kimberlite to be conducted in
2009. Based on additional core drilling, a revised mineral
resource of the OS kimberlite was released in October,
identifying between 333 and 375 Mt of kimberlite material,
including a significant increase of Early Joli Fou kimberlite
lithology, which is the target lithology for diamonds in the
OS kimberlite. LDD and underground bulk sampling are
scheduled to be completed in late January 2009. Newmont
has elected not to participate in the 2009 FALC-JV budget
beyond the completion of the LDD drilling in late January.