eBusiness Weekly
Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – Botswana Diamonds and Vast Resources have received a preliminary geological assessment of the Heritage Concession within the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe.
Vast has a due diligence access agreement and pre-agreed joint venture terms on the Heritage Concession and as announced earlier this month, Botswana Diamonds has entered an agreement with Vast under which the former will be engaged on due diligence, exploration, mining and marketing on the Heritage Concession.
“We have completed a desktop assessment of the Heritage (T1A) Concession in the Marange Diamond Fields. This assessment, has outlined significant potential on the concession and proposes the next steps which include mapping and trial mining if indicated,” comments Botswana Diamonds chairman John Teeling.
The Heritage Concession, also named Block T1A is 6,913 hectares in surface area. The property contains several targets for modern alluvial diamond placer deposits.
The grades of the known modern alluvial placers which drain the Marange Diamond Fields range in grade from 50-500 carats per hundred tons (cpht), most typically 100-200 cpht.
There is also potential for remnants of the basal Umkondo (conglomerate) unit in the concession, which runs at grades from 100-3,000 cpht elsewhere in the Marange Diamond Fields.
Outside the eastern edge of the property is the closest known diamond mine within the Marange Diamond Fields. Situated within Block E2, the deposit was discovered and operated from late 2010 until 2016.
The numbers indicate an average stone size of c.5 cts/stn and an average diamond value of c.US$80/ct from this block. It is generally estimated that over 60 million carats have been recovered from the entire Marange Diamond Fields to date.
The next steps will be to investigate the potential of the modern alluvial diamond deposits and of the older conglomerates on the property.
Assuming positive results, the field work will be closely followed by drilling, pitting and bulk sampling which will form part of a pre-feasibility study and this may entail further funding beyond the initial $1 million committed to the programme by Vast.
Commenting on the development Vast Resources CEO Andrew Prelea said:
“The promising results from site visits, the competent person’s geological report and work with BOD gives the Company great confidence in moving forward with the next phase of operations on the ground.
“The Company has assembled and mobilised a team of geologists and engineers to begin work on the ground and we are looking forward to updating the market with progress of the field work.
“Importantly, the senior management of Vast has been working closely with the community leaders and is developing strong ties with local stakeholders. The wellbeing and advancement of the community is paramount to the success of a long-term business within the Marange Diamond Fields.”
