LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pan African Diamonds Ltd. (“Pan-African Diamonds” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the completion of a new independent technical statement (the “Independent Technical Statement”) prepared by Venmyn Deloitte (Proprietary) Ltd (trading as “Deloitte Technical Mining Advisory”) on its Soromaya-Kerouané exploration diamond permit (“Soromaya-Kerouané”) located in Guinea, West-Africa.
The new Independent Technical Statement realised by Competent Persons from Deloitte Technical Mining Advisory has been reported in accordance with the 2016 South African Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (the “SAMREC Code”) and includes details of Soromaya-Kerouané’s Exploration Target1 for potential diamond resources including estimated diamond pricing ranges, as well as the latest information regarding the recent kimberlite and alluvial exploration campaign completed by the Company on the said permit. This Independent Technical Statement, effective as of 1st October 2018, also contains an assessment of historical exploration activity and previous reserve estimates reported in accordance with the Russian State Commission of Reserves (“GKZ”) on the asset’s alluvial deposits. Three potential kimberlite exploration prospects have been identified.
This Independent Technical Statement commissioned by Pan-African Diamonds reviewed the historical alluvial GKZ reserve (1998) estimated at 1.1928 million carats (not CRISCO compliant, nor standardized to NI 43-101 nor JORC Code mineral resource estimate). Deloitte Technical Mining Advisory has estimated, in accordance with the SAMREC Code, an Exploration Target with a range of 386,000-1,615,000 carats at a grade of between 0.2-0.5 carats per cubic metre and indicated a diamond price target range of $150-300 per carat.
The below table represents the Exploration Target for the alluvial deposits at Soromaya-Kerouané, as of 1st October 2018:
| Exploration Target for alluvial deposits in the Balé | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GRAVEL VOLUME (m3) | GRADE RANGE (ct/m3) | CARATS RANGE | VALUE RANGE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RIVER | BLOCK NAME | LOW (m3) | HIGH (m3) | LOW (ct/m3) | HIGH (ct/m3) | LOW (cts) | HIGH (cts) | LOW ($/ct) | HIGH ($/ct) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Balé | Block 1 | 400,000 | 670,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 80,000 | 335,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Balé | Block 2 | 640,000 | 1,070,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 128,000 | 535,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Balé & Belé | Block 3 | 210,000 | 350,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 42,000 | 175,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Balé | Block 4 | 540,000 | 910,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 108,000 | 455,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Balé tributary | Block 5 | 110,000 | 180,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 22,000 | 90,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Belé | Block 6 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 6,000 | 25,000 | $150 | $300 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOTAL/AVE | 1,930,000 | 3,230,000 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 386,000 | 1,615,000 | $150 | $300 | |||||||||||||||||||
James Ward, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Pan-African Diamonds Limited, commented: "This new Independent Technical Statement prepared by Deloitte Technical Mining Advisory clearly demonstrates the potential value to be unlocked on the Soromaya-Kerouané diamond exploration permit held by Pan-African Diamonds. We are encouraged by this preliminary review and excited by the potential kimberlite exploration targets identified.”
About Pan-African Diamonds Ltd:
Pan-African Diamonds Limited is a privately held independent diamond company focused on Africa and headquartered in London.
Pan-African Diamonds holds 100% of the Soromaya-Kerouané diamond exploration permit awarded in April 2017 with a first exploration period valid for three years. This permit has an area of 95.5 sq km and is located in the renown Aredor diamond region in eastern Guinea near the town of Soromaya.
1 According to the SAMREC Code (2016), an “Exploration Target” is a statement or estimate of the exploration potential of a mineral deposit in a defined geological setting where the statement or estimate, quoted as a range of tonnes and a range of grade or quality, relates to mineralisation for which there has been insufficient exploration to estimate Mineral Resources.” This Exploration Target estimate is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration could result in the determination of a Mineral Resource.