Star Diamond Updates Orion South Project

Canadian precious gem explorer Star Diamond (TSX:DIAM) has released an update for a trench cutter bulk sampling program currently underway at the Orion South diamond project.

The company also provided an update for the processing plant that is being built at the site.

As quoted from the press release:

George H. Read, senior VP exploration and development of Star Diamond Corporation announces that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada has commenced the winter shut down of the Trench Cutter Sampling Rig, which consists of a Bauer BC 50 Cutter mounted on a Bauer
MC 128 Duty-cycle Crane. Bauer Maschinen GmbH (“Bauer”) and Nuna Logistics Limited (“Nuna”) are in the process of winterizing the Trench Cutter Rig and the desanding plant. The winterizing includes the removal of pumps, motors and electronics that will be stored in heated sea containers on the site of the Star Kimberlite for the winter months. The Star Kimberlite is located within the Corporation’s Star – Orion South Diamond Project, in the Fort à la Corne diamond district of central Saskatchewan, Canada, on mineral dispositions held 100 percent by Star Diamond. RTEC refers to Star Diamond’s mineral dispositions in the Fort à la Corne diamond district as project FalCon.

The trench cutter bulk sample drilling was successfully initiated in early October and the first hole reached a depth of 37.1 metres below surface. The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig successfully excavated the sand and till overburden and returned a substantial proportion of large (up to 80 millimetre) fragments from the till. The encouraging performance of the Trench Cutter Sampling Rig was unfortunately constrained by the commissioning of the desanding plant, which did not operate at design capacity. The design and construction of the desanding plant are being evaluated by RTEC with the intent that the desanding plant will be revised or replaced by the time
that RTEC’s on-site bulk sample processing plant is commissioned in spring of 2019.

The final components of the bulk sample processing plant have been shipped, by sea, from South Africa. All containers of bulk sample processing plant equipment are scheduled to reach Montreal, Canada in early December 2018. The Tomra X-Ray Transmission (“XRT”) diamond sorter has already been delivered and is currently being stored off-site in heated storage until it such time that it will be delivered to site, for incorporation in the plant, in early 2019. The construction of a heated, on-site sample storage facility has been permitted and is scheduled to commence in late November 2018.

Click here to read the full announcement