Modern Mining March 2018

DIAMOND MINING

Bellsbank kimberlite project produces its first diamonds

The Bellsbank property is located 10 km west of Frontier’s Sedibeng diamond mine, located approximately 110 km north-west of Kimberley. The pipe is a 130 m x 80 m ‘blow’ on a proven fissure system and was discov- ered through ground magnetics and gravity surveying. A geological report regarding the Bellsbank kimberlite pit is being prepared by the Com­ petent Person (CP) and will include a review of historic and current exploration results. According to Frontier, the recovery of the first diamonds from the processing of a plant commissioning sample taken from the upper levels of the calcretised kimberlite facies of the Bellsbank pipe is a positive indication of the mineralisation of the asset, while the gem qual- ities appear similar to the existing Sedibeng production. Lower uncalcretised kimberlite is expected to be intersected at a depth of 27 m as established by historic drilling records. No definitive diamond grade (cpht) has been determined given the limited volumetric mate- rial processed. According to the CP, the current commissioning sample can be regarded as sub- economic ‘mineralised waste’. It appears to be

ASX-listed Frontier Diamonds has reported the recovery of the first diamonds from its Bellsbank kimberlite pipe explo- ration project in the Northern Cape. The diamonds were recovered from a plant commissioning sample taken from the pipe, with the biggest stone being 1,45 carats.

D iscussing the results, Frontier’s CEO, Jan Louw, said the quality of diamonds recovered from the sample was very encouraging and supported Frontier’s deci- sion to proceed to the next phase in develop- ing the asset. “We will now focus our efforts on increas- ing the pit layout to enable us to access the primary kimberlite pipe and conduct an ade- quate bulk sample. The newly commissioned plant facilities give us the added advantage of performing the bulk sample programme at a relatively low overall cost and in an expedited manner. We are proceeding with an economic assessment of the Bellsbank pipe and are looking forward to reporting the next round of results once finalised.”

The bulk sample and tail- ings retreatment plant at Sedibeng.

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36  MODERN MINING  March 2018