- Star Diamond (TSX:DIAM), a microcap mining stock, released a diamond valuation for three major kimberlite units within the Orion North kimberlite on its Fort à la Corne properties in Saskatchewan
- The diamonds show high modelled prices between US$212 and US$288 per carat
- Star Diamond is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of diamond properties in Canada
- Star Diamond stock has given back 6.25 per cent year-over-year and 68.75 per cent over the past five years
Star Diamond (TSX:DIAM), a microcap mining stock, released a diamond valuation for three major kimberlite units within the Orion North kimberlite on its Fort à la Corne properties in Saskatchewan.
Diamond valuation
The company used diamond parcels from large-diameter drill samples collected between 2006 and 2008 that showed high quality marked by significant colour and high proportions of gem and near-gem stones.
The kimberlites, not previously examined for diamond valuation, are sampled from Early Jou Fou (EJF) units that “form the dominant, potentially economic lithologic units of the K120 and K147/K148 kimberlites,” the main components of the Orion North cluster of contiguous kimberlites, according to Thursday’s news release.
The parcel price is an estimate of the wholesale price. The model price is an estimate for a price considering diamond size frequency distribution. The low model represents a minimum price, while the high model does not represent a maximum. (Source: Star Diamond)
Diamonds within the EJF units of the K120 and K147/148 kimberlites show high modelled prices between US$212 and US$288 per carat. The two most expensive stones, from K147-K148-EJF4 and K120-EJF, respectively, came in at 6.89 carats (US$3,519 per carat, US$24,246) and 7.50 carats (US$3,520 per carat, US$26,400).
Diamond typing
The company also conducted a diamond typing exercise showing a high proportion of Type IIa diamonds in all three of the Orion North kimberlites, representing a spectrum of sizes from +5 DTC (+0.05 carats) to 7 carats, and sufficient diamonds to conduct preliminary diamond typing studies, as highlighted by the EJF3 and EJF4 units of K147/K148, which boast anomalous Type IIa diamond proportions at 41 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively. Type IIa diamonds account for less than 2 per cent of all natural rough diamonds mined worldwide from kimberlite deposits.
The Fort à la Corne project
Fort à la Corne, 60 km east of the city of Prince Albert, occurs within a contiguous block of 191 mineral dispositions covering 44,534 hectares and includes 69 kimberlites, many of which are diamond bearing in a linear array.
Star Diamond’s 2014 study on the Fort à la Corne kimberlites estimates that between 511 million and 609 million tonnes of the major EJF units, containing between 25 million and 50 million carats, occur within the Orion North kimberlite cluster.
Leadership insights
“The model prices for these three early stage bulk samples of Orion North EJF are high (greater than US$200 per carat), while the model prices for K120-EJF (US$267.77 per carat) and K147/K148-EJF3 (US$287.88 per carat) are more than double the average US$ per carat price for all Canadian production in 2022 (US$115.56 per carat). All three parcels have significantly elevated proportions of Type IIa diamonds, with K147/K148-EJF3 and K147/K148-EJF4 being uniquely high and pointing toward an opportunity for the recovery of large diamonds (greater than 10.8 carats) from potential future production,” George Read, Star Diamond’s senior vice president of corporate development, said in a statement.
“The high diamond prices, uniquely high proportions of Type IIa diamonds, combined with more than 500 million tonnes of diamond-bearing kimberlite, suggest that the Orion North kimberlite cluster presents a rare opportunity of future evaluation,” he added.
About Star Diamond
Star Diamond is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of diamond properties in Canada.
Star Diamond stock (TSX:DIAM) opened unchanged, trading at C$0.075 per share. The stock has given back 6.25 per cent year-over-year and 68.75 per cent over the past five years.
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(Top photo is sourced from Star Diamond and stems from Fort à la Corne, but does not represent mineralization reported today.)