DIAMOND MINING – Vaaldiam joins ranks of producers

BRAZIL - On Sept. 1, 2007, Toronto-based VAALDIAM RESOURCES joined the ranks of the world's diamond producers. The date marks the start of commercial production from the company's 100%-owned Duas Barras mine. Vaaldiam is now one of only two publicly traded diamond producers in South America.

To date 20,178 diamonds with a total weight of 5,054.65 ct have been recovered from 21,807 bank cubic metres (bcm) of gravel. The average recovered grade since the start of plant commissioning in early May is 0.23 ct/bcm, which is 44% higher than the projected resource grade. Approximately 5.28 kg of byproduct gold has also been recovered by the Duas Barras processing plant from 18,502 bcm of gravel, resulting in a recovered gold grade of 0.29 g/bcm.

Here are some additional production highlights:
- average size of the diamonds recovered is 0.25 ct per stone;
- the 10 largest diamonds recovered weigh 8.25, 7.64, 6.25, 4.46, 4.07, 3.88, 3.81, 3.66, 3.43 and 3.29 carats;
- 29% of the diamonds by weight are larger than 0.50 ct;
- 11% of the diamonds by weight are larger than 1.0 ct.

Photos of the diamonds, including production from the days when the 10 largest diamonds were recovered during commissioning, are available for viewing on Vaaldiam's website at www.Vaaldiam.com. Check the photo gallery under the Duas Barras section of the Mining and Exploration tab.