High Diamond Value of US$338 Per Carat at Brauna
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 2, 2010) - VaaldiamMining Inc. ('Vaaldiam' or the 'Company') (TSX:VAA) is pleased toreport that two independent diamond valuation consultants valued1,013.75 carats ('cts') of rough diamonds recovered from the south lobeof Vaaldiam's Braúna 3 kimberlite pipe ('B3') at an average value ofUS$338 per carat. The south lobe bulk sample comprised 4,158 dry tonnesof kimberlite with an average recovered grade of 24.4 cts per hundredtonnes ('cpht') and an average stone size of 0.21 cts per stone.Theaverage global price for rough diamonds is about US$70 per carat. TheBraúna property is in Bahia State, Brazil.
The two independent, internationally recognizeddiamond valuation and consulting companies were Diamond CounsellorInternational ('DCI') of London, U.K., and International EconomicStrategy ('IES') of Antwerp, Belgium. The diamonds were sieved and sizedto DTC standards and used November prices of rough diamond sales inAntwerp.
B3 – South Sample Diamond Valuation Results
IES valued the parcel at US$338.71 per carat. It saidthe pric "is very high for a kimberlite and would rank Braúna as oneof the best mines in the world"e. IES suggested a bench mark price ofUS$330 per carat as its projection of the average sales price of futureproduction from the south lobe. IES said "the overall mixture in colourand quality make this parcel very desirable and highly marketable."
DCI valued the parcel at US338.44 per carat andsuggested that a range from US$335 to US$400 per carat could beexpected. DCI noted that "this is a good average price for a kimberlite"and that the "south deposit contains a wide range of good qualitydiamonds. It has a high per carat average price which should provemarketable and profitable."
Project Overview
The two-hectare B3 pipe is located in easilyaccessible terrain just 7 km south of the town of Nordestina, whichprovides the project with excellent infrastructure, services and skilledpersonnel. B3 is one of 22 kimberlite occurrences discovered so far onthe property. Vaaldiam has performed exploration work on only fiveoccurrences, including the Braúna 8 ('B8') kimberlite dike situated 5 kmnorth of the B3 pipe. Mini-bulk samples from this 4.5 metre-wide dikeproduced 170 diamonds weighing 19.37 cts from approximately 46 drytonnes, inferring a recovered grade of 42 cpht, and included a 7.97carat white octahedron stone. The B8 occurrence is a vertically orientedkimberlite dike forming a 1,000 metre-long section of the northwesttrending dike system. Recent exploration conducted in the vicinity ofthe B8 dike has confirmed that this dike is linked to the Braúna 21occurrence. Mini-bulk sampling of the one hectare Braúna 7 pipe,situated 1 km to the east of the B3 pipe, resulted in the recovery of 30diamonds with a total weight of 3.87 carats from approximately 87tonnes of kimberlite with an estimated recovered diamond grade of 4.5cpht.
Robert Jackson, President and CEO said "This isexcellent for our shareholders. Investors should note the high stonevalue, the close proximity of these occurrences to each other and toNordestina and the potential to add more resources in easily developedterrain."
Vaaldiam holds a 20% interest in the Braúna project. It can increase its interest to 49% by paying its partners an estimatedamount of approximately US$6.7 million for costs incurred to completethe bulk sample, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2010. AtSeptember 30, 2010 Vaaldiam had $11.2 million of cash.
This release has been reviewed by Katya Masun P.Geo.,who is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. Foradditional information regarding Vaaldiam please visit www.vaaldiam.com
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