Shares of Pangolin Diamonds (CVE:PAN) were rising Tuesday after the company said it recovered a macro-diamond from a soil sample on its recently acquired Malatswae project prospecting license in north-central Botswana.
Shares surged more than 18 percent early today, to 13 Canadian cents. The stock has a 52-week range of 10 to 53 cents.
The white diamond weighs 0.005484 carats, and was retained on a standard Endecotts sieve with the mesh size of 0.600 mm. The diamond is therefore classified as a macro diamond, 0.500mm in at least one direction, according to the Toronto, Ontario-based diamond explorer's statement.
The regional soil sample, which weighed approximately 40 kg, was collected and then processed at Pangolin's DMS plant in Francistown, Botswana. A concentrate was then independently examined and submitted to C.F. Mineral Research in Canada.
The company said Tuesday that a field team is now on site collecting follow up samples on a close-spaced grid to help determine the significance of this discovery.
Pangolin's Malatswae project stretches 1,058 square km, and is located 70km southeast of the Orapa mine. The area is home to several kimberlite targets, said the company, with previous work suggesting that an undiscovered kimberlite may be found within the project area.
Pangolin has four exploration properties in the world’s leading country for diamond production by value, including Tsabong North, which is about 100 km north of the town of Tsabong in southwestern Botswana.
The Tsabong North project is 1,546 square kilometres in size, with the company having tested a series of airborne geophysical targets over the past nine months, the most significant of which is the Magi area where an extensive kimberlitic tuff was intersected in six drill holes.
Currently, one diamond drill continues to test exploration targets at Tsabong North, including Magi, which was discovered last year after the company announced it modeled the structure at 270 hectares, making it one of the largest kimberlites in the world.