Stornoway Intersects Kimberlite at Adamantin Project

LONGUEUIL, Quebec, May 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX:SWY); (the “Corporation” or “Stornoway”) is pleased to announce the discovery of kimberlite at its 100% owned Adamantin Project located approximately 100km south of the Renard Diamond Project and 25km west of the Route 167 Extension in north central Québec. To date 11 distinct kimberlite bodies have been identified, with intersections of up to 13.7 meters of undiluted kimberlite, and are interpreted to represent a new center of kimberlite emplacement located proximal to, but distinct from, the Renard kimberlite cluster.

Till sampling at Adamantin during 2015 confirmed the presence of indicator mineral anomalies interpreted to be sourced from undiscovered kimberlites with diamond potential, with one till sample containing a diamond from the +0.25mm-0.50mm size fraction. Drilling commenced on March 20, 2016, with a light weight, helicopter portable, reverse circulation (“RC”) drill rig designed to test multiple geophysical targets within a broad indicator mineral anomaly.

As of the suspension of drilling on May 01, kimberlite had been intersected in 18 of 78 drill holes (including 7 lost holes) testing 72 geophysical targets. These intersections are interpreted to represent at least 11 discrete kimberlite bodies. Additional high priority targets under lakes could not be tested due to deteriorating ice conditions.

Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented, “We are encouraged by the early drilling at Adamantin which has discovered a spatially extensive field of kimberlite emplacement in an area that we knew to have promising indicator mineral chemistry and where we had already found a diamond in till. To our knowledge, this is the first new field of kimberlites discovered in Québec in more than 10 years. Our drilling was curtailed by melting ice conditions before we were able to test all of our best targets, and we believe additional kimberlites remain to be discovered. Sufficient samples have been recovered from each body to arrive at a preliminary sense of diamond content, which will now be our immediate priority. Additional drilling will be required to test the full areal extent of the kimberlite field, and to test for larger kimberlite pipes or blows beneath the lakes, as well as the size potential of the bodies that have already been discovered.”

The Adamantin Project now comprises 15,139 hectares of claims following recent additional acquisitions. In total, 72 targets identified from airborne geophysical data were tested with two RC rigs drilling shallow holes. RC drilling produces small chips of rock that are brought to surface by air pressure, and is well suited for the rapid and economical testing of multiple targets involving frequent re-positioning. However, geological contacts are not as sharply defined as by traditional core drilling, the RC chips themselves vary in size and quality, and the diamond content of the chips can be influenced by under-recovery and breakage factors.

Of the 18 kimberlite intersections identified from drilling, 14 returned intersections of undiluted (100%) hypabyssal kimberlite chips between 1.5m and 13.7m in length (Table 1). Intersections of mixed chips of kimberlite and country rock were also returned up to 22.9m in length. The mixing of kimberlite and country rock chips over these intervals by this drilling method could represent the discovery of multiple, layered kimberlite bodies, and/or the inclusion of country rock xenoliths and wall rock material within a discrete kimberlite body, and/or the presence of breccia haloes and alteration zones proximal to larger bodies as is seen at the Renard Project, and/or dilution caused by the RC lifting process.

Of note, drilling at adjacent geophysical anomalies AD-50, 51 and 52 suggests the presence of a single, shallowly dipping (5-10 degrees), tabular body with an apparent true thickness of approximately 10 meters. This body lies 6-12m below surface, extends over a minimum NW-SE strike extent of 260 meters and is open in all directions. Approximately 870kg of kimberlite chips were recovered from the AD-50/51/52 body, with samples varying from 20kg to 300kg in size collected from the other 10 discoveries. These will now be sent for diamond recovery to give a preliminary indication of the diamond content of each body.

Table 1: Drill Holes with Intersections of Kimberlite

Qualified Persons

Disclosure of a scientific or technical nature in this press release was prepared under the supervision of Robin Hopkins, P.Geol. (NT/NU), Vice President, Exploration, a “qualified person” under NI 43-101.

About Stornoway Diamond Corporation

Stornoway is a leading Canadian diamond exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY and headquartered in Montreal. Our flagship asset is the 100% owned Renard Diamond Project, on track to becoming Québec’s first diamond mine. Stornoway is a growth oriented company with a world-class asset, in one of the world’s best mining jurisdictions, in one of the world’s great mining businesses.

On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
/s/ “Matt Manson”
Matt Manson
President and Chief Executive

For more information, please contact Matt Manson (President and CEO) at 416-304-1026 x2101
or Orin Baranowsky (Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development) at 416-304-1026 x2103
or toll free at 1-877-331-2232

Pour plus d’information, veuillez contacter M. Ghislain Poirier, Vice-président Affaires publiques de Stornoway au 418-254-6550, gpoirier@stornowaydiamonds.com

** Website: www.stornowaydiamonds.com Email: info@stornowaydiamonds.com **

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. This information and these statements, referred to herein as “forward-looking statements”, are made as of the date of this press release and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements with respect to Stornoway’s objectives for the ensuing year, Stornoway’s medium and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve those objectives and goals, as well as statements with respect to Stornoway’s beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the amount of Mineral Reserves, Mineral Resources and exploration targets; (ii) the amount of future production over any period;  (iii) future exploration plans; (iv) future market prices for rough diamonds; (v) sources of and anticipated financing requirements.. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “projects”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategy”, “goals”, “objectives”, “schedule” or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions by Stornoway or its consultants and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Stornoway to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business prospects and strategies and the environment in which Stornoway will operate in the future, including the price of diamonds, anticipated costs and Stornoway’s ability to achieve its goals, anticipated financial performance, regulatory developments, development plans, exploration, development and mining activities and commitments, and the foreign exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollars. Although management considers its assumptions on such matters to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Certain important assumptions by Stornoway or its consultants in making forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) receipt of regulatory approval on acceptable terms within commonly experienced time frames; (ii) anticipated geological formations; (iii) Stornoway’s interpretation of the geological drill data collected and its potential impact on stated Mineral Resources and mine life; and (iv) future exploration plans and objectives;. Additional risks are described in Stornoway’s most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A, and other disclosure documents available under the Corporation’s profile at: www.sedar.com.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements as a number of important risk factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur, including the assumption in many forward-looking statements that other forward-looking statements will be correct, but specifically include, without limitation: (i) risks relating to variations in the grade, kimberlite lithologies and country rock content within the material identified as Mineral Resources from that predicted; (ii) the uncertainty as to whether further exploration of exploration targets will result in the targets being delineated as Mineral Resources; (iii) developments in world diamond markets; (v) slower increases in diamond valuations than assumed; (iv) risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US dollar; (v) uncertainty of results of exploration in areas of potential expansion of resources; (vi) changes in exploration results; (vii) risks relating to the receipt of regulatory approval; (viii) the effects of competition in the markets in which Stornoway operates; (ix) operational and infrastructure risks; and (x) the additional risks described in Stornoway’s most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A and Stornoway’s anticipation of and success in managing the foregoing risks. Stornoway cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive, and unforeseeable, new risks may arise from time to time.