DIAMOND EXPLORATION: Aviat sample yields 210 cpht

NUNAVUT — Vancouver-based Stornoway Diamond Corp. reports that the first 43 tonnes of a bulk sample from its Aviat kimberlite returned a grade of 210 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The largest stone is a 0.81-ct grey fragment. A bulk sample weighing 200 tonnes was taken from within the Eastern Sheet Complex (ESC) in 2008.

The Aviat conceptual study authored by SRK Consulting (Canada) estimated the ESC contains 12.4 million to 10.0 million tonnes of kimberlitic material within four separate sheets. One of these sheets, named ES1, spans an area of some 260 ha and represents about 78% of the total kimberlite volume. Based on the limited micro- and macrodiamond data collected during the 2003 to 2007 field campaigns, SRK estimated a total diamond content of 235 cpht. The conceptual range of total content of kimberlite material and the estimate of total diamond content, taken together, imply between 24.1 million to 40.3 million ct in the ground.

The Aviat project is located on the Melville Peninsula. It is a joint venture between Stornoway (90%) and Hunter Exploration Group (10%). A map outlining the series of significantly diamondiferous kimberlite pipes and sheets discovered to date is available at www.StornowayDiamonds.com/Kimberlite-Bodies-October-6.jpg.