The mineral inclinations are situated within the Fort à la Corne provincial forest of central Saskatchewan, close to the freeway and energy strains, some 60 km east of town of Prince Albert.
Indicated mineral assets on Star have elevated 22% to 34.8 million carats and the grade has elevated 20% to 19.4 cpht (carats per hundred tonnes). Indicated mineral assets on Orion South have elevated 37% to 36.9 million carats, with a 32% improve in grade to 17.9 cpht.
Star Diamond mentioned it has decided that no extra bulk sampling is required on the Orion South kimberlite for the estimation of the mineral assets, which ends up in the financial savings of tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in exploration expenditures and speeds the completion of the pre-feasibility examine (PFS).
“Our technical group and out of doors consultants have been working laborious for the final yr and a half to reach at this unimaginable consequence,” Star Diamond CEO Ewan Mason mentioned in Wednesday’s information launch. “We intend to have a feasibility examine accomplished by the tip of 2026, with hopes that shovels might be within the floor inside 3-5 years.”
The corporate says the mission is the biggest undeveloped diamond deposit on the earth, and comprises massive, high-value stones. It’s additionally low grade, nonetheless, and the necessity to take away a considerable amount of overburden would add to improvement prices for the deliberate open pit mine. A 2018 preliminary financial evaluation put preproduction capital prices at C$1.4 billion.
The examine estimated 66 million carats might be recovered from the mission over a 38-year interval, producing C$3.3 billion ($2.6bn) in income.
A storied previous
Exploration has been ongoing at Star-Orion for years, however the firm solely turned sole proprietor in March of this yr, buying Rio Tinto’s 75% curiosity in Fort à la Corne.
Though the explorer made peace with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC) in 2021, the 2 corporations confronted off in courtroom in 2020 resulting from a drawn out dispute over the event of what was as soon as a joint diamond mission.
The authorized row stemmed from a 2017 earn-in deal underneath which Rio Tinto’s subsidiary RTEC dedicated to spend $75 million in phases to amass 60% of the Star-Orion South mission.
When RTEC exercised all its choices concurrently, Star Diamonds objected, alleging the the world’s second-largest miner did so to spice up its stake at under market worth.
“We ended up with 100% of it, plus C$100 million in equipment, tools, and provides, plus a 10-year environmental bond, plus C$4 million in money. And for that, we gave them 17% of our inventory, which is roughly C$8.5 million,” Mason instructed MINING.com in an interview.
Mason additionally mentioned when Star Diamond and RTEC first entered the three way partnership, the mining big’s executives had been eyeing new diamond initiatives to fill the hole that the getting older Diavik mine within the Northwest Territories – which is working out of ore – would fill, however at the moment are centered on increasing the corporate’s important minerals portfolio.
Pink tape
First found within the Nineteen Eighties, in a forest setting, the location comprises at the least 70 kimberlite pipes, Mason mentioned.
“We have already got over 500 million tons of ore from simply two kimberlite pipes. We’ve been at it 30 years, and we’ve extracted over 150,000 diamonds already, and we nonetheless haven’t constructed the mine.”
Mason mentioned Star Diamond has already spent over a billion {dollars} on the late-stage mission and the final PEA confirmed that it was going to contribute C$25 billion to the province over the primary 34 years.
The diamonds which have been extracted to date usually are not available on the market as a result of the corporate will not be permitted to promote them underneath Saskatchewan mining laws till it has a mining allow.
Star Diamond had 160 diamonds from Fort à la Corne property lower and positioned into the Black Rod of the Saskatchewan Legislature in Regina.
“We hold them in a financial institution vault, however we’ve began to take them out and lower and polish them and show them, they usually’re magnificent,” Mason mentioned, including that Star Orion is a sort 2a prevalent deposit, which means excessive purity diamonds and include no boron.
“Not one of many mines working now, or those that did function, had sort 2a. These diamonds are very uncommon and most mines world wide don’t have them. No one in Canada has them,” Mason mentioned.
“We have now extracted diamonds as much as 50 carats to date, simply in sampling, and a few of these diamonds are value over $100,000 every. It’s very high-quality deposit, there’s actually nothing prefer it on the earth, not even shut.”
A (actual) diamond is eternally
Artificial diamonds have disrupted the market over the past couple of years, and whereas Mason believes lab diamonds have a spot within the jewellery market, he identified {that a} artificial diamond, “the second it leaves the shop, is value nothing.”
“They’ll make an infinite variety of these diamonds. They haven’t any resale worth, so loads of wholesalers are [saying] they’re rubbish,” he mentioned. “They are saying they’re chemically equal to an precise stone [because] it’s carbon, besides that it’s not shaped the identical manner. It’s not shaped naturally. It’s not environmentally pleasant by any stretch. Our mine can be all electrical powered. It’s going to be at the least carbon impartial, if not carbon unfavorable.”
Mason mentioned legacy diamond provide is down 15% over the past three years and by the tip of this decade can be down much more.
“The place are you going to get the conflict-free diamonds that aren’t from Russia? Canada. And Russia produces 30% of diamonds which are for jewellery functions proper now and the West eats 70% of all diamonds for jewellery functions.”
Indigenous engagement
Mason mentioned the mission is being constructed out on Cree Nation territory in Saskatchewan with the cooperation of the area people, and the corporate goals to supply ample alternatives for Indigenous employment.
Star Diamond selected the trademark “Kīwētin” (pronounced “kee-way-tin”), which means north wind within the Cree language, for its Fort à la Corne diamonds.
“We’re at a really pivotal time in our nation with respect to these kinds of initiatives,” Mason mentioned.
“I feel it’s one of the best province to be constructing a mine in Canada proper now – and that is an thrilling mission – it’s going to be a market mover when it will get up and working.”
By market shut in Toronto, Star Diamond’s inventory was up over 8%. The corporate has a C$39 million ($28.2 million) market capitalization.