TSX-listed Tsodilo Resources’ BK16 kimberlite project, in the Orapa kimberlite field, in Botswana, has produced a third parcel of diamonds, comprising 279 diamonds weighing 43.95 ct, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The diamondiferous BK16 kimberlite pipe is about 6 ha in size at surface and is known to contain rare and valuable Type IIa diamonds.
Advertisement“Processing of the dense media separation concentrates of the large-diameter drill samples through the Bourevestnik Polus-M X-ray recovery unit has been completed. The processing of the concentrates of the drill tailing samples is still ongoing.
“The concentrated 3 mm to 8 mm material has been hand sorted, while the +8 mm fraction was also hand sorted but not processed through the Bourevestnik recovery unit.
Advertisement“These fractions will be crushed by a small jaw crusher down to 3 mm, which will be re-analyzed by the Bourevestnik X-ray unit and then hand sorted. This process is necessary to recover any locked-up diamonds. In addition, a small-scale grease process will be used in the end to audit the tailings and selected concentrates.”
The diamonds have been delivered to diamond broker Hennig & Co’s office at the Diamond Technology Park (DTP), in Gaborone.
After the diamonds have been acid treated, they will be stored at Hennig's secure facilities with the other BK16 diamonds for valuation and breakage studies. All the diamonds have been photographed and the carat weights and basic descriptions were entered in the company's data base prior to shipment to the DTP.
Dr Paddy Lawless has been retained to initiate a size frequency distribution (SFD) study and value modelling study. SFD and value studies are used to predict the diamond size frequency, and potential diamond value, in a diamond deposit and contribute significantly towards the estimation of expected revenue.
Tsodilo has a 100% stake in Bosoto, which holds the BK16 kimberlite project and the PL216/2017 diamond prospecting licence in the Orapa kimberlite field.
It also has a 100% stake in its Gcwihaba project area, consisting of seven metal (base, precious, platinum group, and rare earth) prospecting licences located in the North-West district of Botswana.
Additionally, Tsodilo has a 70% stake in Idada Trading 361, which holds a gold and silver exploration licence in the Barberton area of South Africa.