Stellar recovers 55-carat diamond at Baoulé

London listed diamond development company Stellar Diamonds plc, announced the recovery of a 55 carat diamond from its 75 percent owned Baoulé kimberlite pipe in Guinea.

Stellar Chief Executive, Karl Smithson said, “We are extremely encouraged to have recovered this 55 carat stone as it confirms that the Baoulé pipe is a possible source of the large diamonds which have been mined in alluvial deposits downstream of the Baoulé pipe for many years, several of which have been +100 carats in size.”

He further noted that, “We will carefully examine the stone which appears to have a ‘boart’ exterior and a potentially better quality diamond on the interior. Gem quality diamonds continue to be recovered from the Baoulé kimberlite up to 12 carats in size.

A total of 8,043 carats have been recovered to date from Baoulé, at an average grade of 12.7 cpht. The company is currently on track to finalize the trial mining and processing of 100,000 tonnes in the third quarter, the statement said. The company is currently on track to finalise the trial mining and processing of 100,000 tonnes in Q3.