DiamondCorp recovers 19.83 carat clear white gem diamond

DiamondCorp, the Southern African diamond development and exploration company, stated that processing of K6 kimberlite at its Lace diamond mine resulted in recovery of a 19.83 carat clear white gem diamond. This is the largest gem diamond recovered from underground development so far.

The Lace diamond mine lies in the Free State province of South Africa. The company also noted that a total of 3,321m of underground core drilling in 21 holes has delineated 2.6 million tonnes of K4 (high grade) kimberlite above the 370m level, an increase of more than 2 million tonnes over the original Lace geological model. The underground conveyor system is 91% fabricated and on site, 51 percent installed and on schedule for commissioning ahead of the mining ramp-up.

The conveyor belt will handle both kimberlite and development waste and has the capacity to bring 400 tonnes per hour to surface (an average of 8,000 tonnes per day) compared with a maximum of 975 tonnes per day which can currently be hauled by the Company's five dump trucks.