Second phase of bulk-sampling yields more diamonds at Star

Vancouver – A second-phase underground bulk-sampling program has been completed at the Star diamond project near Prince Albert, Sask. With results from on-site processing in hand, Shore Gold (SGF-T) is reporting an average grade of 16.51 carats per 100 tonnes, slightly above the average grade of 16.03 carats per 100 tonnes reported for the first-phase program.

Shore collected a 25,000-tonne sample during its first-phase, bulk-sampling program at Star. The second phase involved the extraction of a further 15,000 tonnes to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel to 6,000 carats from 4,000 carats. During the second phase of bulk-sampling, 19,918 diamonds weighing 3,016 carats were recovered from 18,272 tonnes of kimberlite.

The latest results are from 16 batches comprising 4,133.54 tonnes of kimberlite, which brings the total number of batches processed to 75 and concludes the second-phase bulk-sampling program. Thirteen of these were recovered from the Early Joli Fou kimberlite, one of five main kimberlite phases within the Star kimberlite.

The 16 newly processed batches yielded 3,573 commercial-sized diamonds (greater than 1.18-millimetre square-mesh screen) collectively weighing 556.64 carats. Of this total, 76 diamonds greater than 1 carat were recovered, with the four largest stones weighing 6.37, 5.86, 5.25 and 4.8 carats.

Shore Gold reports that 65% of the diamonds are classified as white, with another 16% classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes five pink stones, six yellow stones, and two amber stones.

The third phase of the underground bulk-sampling program, to include testing of the Cantuar and Pense kimberlites, is under way as part of a pre-feasibility study scheduled for completion by the end of 2007. The main goal of the ongoing $60-million program is to determine resources compliant with National Instrument 43-101 disclosure standards.

Shore Gold owns 100% of the Star diamond project. Through wholly owned subsidiary Kensington Resources, the company also holds an indirect 46.94% interest in the nearby Fort a la Corne (FALC) joint venture operated by De Beers Canada.

The FALC diamond project is the focus of a $43.2-million exploration program scheduled for completion late this year. The program will include large-diameter drilling on the Orion cluster (a group of eight defined kimberlites) and core drilling of the Star West kimberlite, along with continued exploration drilling of other known kimberlites.