Stellar Diamonds (LON:STEL) said this morning high diamond grades had been returned from its initial bulk sampling of the Katcha Dyke at the company's Droujba project in Guinea.
The first 92 tonnes of the 299 collected to date yielded 173 carats, or the equivalent of 188 carats per hundred tonnes. This is well ahead of the anticipated 100cpht.
The largest gem diamond was 5.55 carats, Stellar revealed. It also said the Katcha Dyke has the potential to add “significant carats” to the overall Droujba resource with previous seven drill holes intersecting kimberlite down to 130 metres.
Chief executive Karl Smithson said based on these initial results and the previous drilling, Stellar expects to bring a section of the five kilometre long dyke into the inferred resource category.
This will complement the 2.5 million carats already confirmed as an inferred resource at the nearby Droujba pipe.
He added: "Bulk sample processing is ongoing at Droujba and we expect to upgrade the global project resource, including both the pipe and the Katcha Dyke, in the fourth quarter of this year prior to commencing a pre-feasibility study to analyse the economics for an open pit mine. I look forward to updating shareholders as we progress."