Star Diamond Begins Trench Cutter Sampling Program

Canadian diamond exploration company Star Diamond (TSX:DIAM) has announced the commencement of the 2019 trench cutter bulk sampling program at its Orion South diamond project, in
the Fort à la Corne diamond district of central Saskatchewan.

As quoted from the press release:

George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration and Development of Star Diamond is pleased to announce that Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (”RTEC”) have recommenced the drilling of the first bulk sample hole on the corporation’s Star Kimberlite using the Trench Cutter Sampling Rig. 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.

Cutter rigs by Bauer Maschinen GmbH (“Bauer”) are used around the world for complex engineering projects. Bauer has indicated that this will be the first time in the world that this technology will be used in an active project to sample kimberlite at depths of up 250 meters. The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig consists of a Bauer BC 50 Cutter mounted on a Bauer MC 128 Duty-cycle Crane.

The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig is designed to sample large volumes of kimberlite by excavating a rectangular hole of 3.2 by 1.5 metres. Each ten metres of advance down hole, within the kimberlite, will yield some 100 tonnes of sample. The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig’s cutter head has been designed to excavate kimberlite fragments up to 80 millimetres in diameter, which are then pumped in a slurry to surface. The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig was successfully initiated in October 2018, prior to winter shutdown, with the first hole reaching 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 first desanding plant, which did not operate at design capacity. A redesigned Kimberlite Separation Unit (“KSU”) has been manufactured and delivered to site. This KSU is designed to recover kimberlite fragments between 80 and 0.85 millimetres from the Trench Cutter Sampling Rig slurry. Washed kimberlite material will then be collected in cubic metre bulk bags for delivery to an on-site Bulk Sample Plant (“BSP”). Assembly of the BSP is currently underway. The Trench Cutter Sampling Rig and associated KSU have been designed by RTEC to minimize diamond breakage during sample excavation, washing and bagging. Well washed kimberlite material will help ensure optimal performance of RTEC’s on-site BSP. Final diamond recovery is to be conducted by RTEC at a secure off-site facility.

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