RE: RE: On AFA websiteAfri-Can believes new diamond block is a gem
To say that Pierre Leveille, CEO of Canadian listed marine diamond explorer Afri-Can, is excited about the prospects for the company's newly acquired exploration block in the centre of the largest and richest marine diamond field in the world, would be a bit of an understatement.
He calls it a "once in a lifetime opportunity."
The 800-square kilometre block - EPL 3403 - is situated on Namibia's south coast close to the mouth of the Orange River and lies next to the Namdeb/De Beers Marine Atlantic One deposit which has a resource estimated at about 100 million carats. The Atlantic One deposit is currently producing 1.1 million carats a year sold at over US$400 per carat, making it the most profitable marine diamond project currently in operation.
EPL 3403 is situated 75 kilometres from the mouth of the Orange River, considered to be the main route that brought diamonds to the sea.
Leveille told BusinessLIVE from Montreal that the block is extremely well situated - surrounded by the most profitable marine diamond field in the world. It is in the same area where De Beers has mined over 250 million carats since the 1930s and is surrounded by an area with the largest potential in the marine diamond industry.
"From the type of stones recovered and the sampling, we see that our concession hosts the same type and size of stones as the neighbouring fields.
"EPL 3403 has the same geological structure as Atlantic One and we believe there could be many millions of carats in that concession," he said.
Some 199 samples have been extracted and 14 of those samples contained 23 stones ranging between 0.07 and 2.69 carats per stone, said Leveille.
"In one area in the south, 8 positive samples had an average size of 0.80 carats per stone which is comparable to results from the adjacent Namdeb deposit, Atlantic One."
"It is also important to note, that multiple stones were found in five samples one of which contained six stones. This is a major indication of concentration and confirms that a deposit lies in this specific area, which covers 16 square kilometres. The northern area geologically similar to Atlantic One covers a vast 160 square kilometres," he said.
Leveille said the next step is to develop the resources. "The first sampling has been very positive and has proven presence of diamonds. We now go back to where we have seen the deposits and explore and prospect for the next six months, and then with that completed we can probably envisage trial mining during the last quarter of 2011. From trial mining we switch to commercial mining."
Importantly, 95% of the diamonds recovered off the coast of Namibia are of gem quality, the highest percentage in the world.
Afri-Can's geological team is headed by Dick Foster, who for 32 years was De Beers Marine chief geologist during the development of its West Coast marine diamond deposits. Foster is joined by three other renowned geologists and the total marine experience of the team amounts to more than 120 years.
In the past, Afri-Can experienced delays with its sampling programmes, because of a lack of availability of suitable high tech sampling boats. But this problem has now been alleviated as Afri-Can bought its new block from IMDH, a specialist marine diamond dredging company, with a range of high tech vessels for sampling and mining. It has charted the high-tech vesssel "The Explorer" for its sampling programme.
In return for EPL 3403, IMDH has taken a near 20% stake in Afri-Can.
To fund the next stages of the project, Afri-Can plans to come to the market - either in the form of shares or other options offered in Canada, Europe and South Africa, Leveille said.
Afri-Can is no stranger to Namibia - it has been active there since 1997. Leveille says the company came to Namibia when there were not many Canadian companies involved in the region, and over the years it has developed a network in the southern African mining industry.
So the company's plans to seek a secondary listing on the JSE - its primary listing is on the Toronto Stock Exchange's Venture exchange where is has been listed since 1986 - seems a natural step.
The listing, he says, will likely be in the second half of 2011, as it takes some time to prepare.
"Currently around 30% of Afri-Can's shares are held by South Africans. Our business is in the resources sector and there is a strong network in South Africa and Namibia, so it is natural to have a listing in SA. Our type of business is also a lot better understood by South Africans than anywhere in the world as it's the region in the world that alluvial diamonds occur."
Apart from EPL 3403, the company has also conducted a sampling programme on its Block J concession, 300 miles north of its new marine diamond prospect.
"We discovered a profitable diamond deposit at Block J, which we will go back and mine, some 250km north of EPL 3403, in an area where diamonds were discovered for the first time. The diamonds are known to be smaller, but the resources there still have the potential to be over 1 million carats. We'll do trial mining after first exploration phase on EPL 3403."
He added, however, that it was nothing like as exciting as the new block EPL3403.
The company is also involved in a prophyry copper joint venture in Namibia - the Haib copper deposit - with Teck Resources.
Leveille is upbeat about the prospects for diamond prices. Since 2008 diamond prices have receded sharply, but because of a lack of supply, marine diamonds will grow 5-10% in value in the next few years, he says.
"Marine diamonds are gem quality only - the best quality you can find - and they fetch the highest prices in the world."
Afri-Can Marine Minerals Corporation is a Canadian exploration and development company, actively involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of major mineral properties in Namibia. It targets large marine diamond deposits in prospective areas of this politically stable country.
CEO Pierre Leveille has over 20 years of experience in the financial markets and the resources industry. He has served as President, CEO and Director of Afri-Can since 1994. Prior to joining Afri-Can, he spent over eight years in the financial markets as a stockbroker and corporate finance advisor.