3.64 carat diamond recovered from AV2 Kimberlite at Aviat

Stornoway Diamond Corporation and Hunter Exploration Group reports that a 3.64 carat stone has been recovered from the AV2 kimberlite, one of eleven significantly diamondiferous kimberlites identified at the 2.2 million acre Aviat Project, located on the Melville Peninsula in eastern Nunavut, Canada.

Stornoway’s CEO Eira Thomas said that the recovery of a large, gem quality stone from a relatively small sample from AV2 is an important and highly encouraging new development for the Aviat Project. Previous work at Aviat has identified significant tonnage potential together with good grades. The recovery of this 3.6 carat gem has, for the first time, established Aviat’s potential to yield large, high quality gemstones, an important value driver in any economic diamond deposit.

This diamond, described as a gem quality white dodecahedron, is the largest stone from the Aviat Project to date. It was recovered during Dense Media Separation (DMS) processing of an 11.4 tonne (wet weight) subsample, part of a larger, approximately 27 tonne sample collected in 2007 from surface exposures of the AV2 kimberlite. The diamond was damaged during DMS processing and the reported carat weight is thought to represent about 90% of the original weight.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation is one of Canada’s leading diamond exploration and development companies, involved in the discovery of over 150 kimberlites in six Canadian diamond districts. The Company benefits from a diversified diamond property portfolio, a strong financial platform and management and technical teams with experience in each segment of the diamond “pipeline” from exploration to marketing.

Story link: 3.64 carat diamond recovered from AV2 Kimberlite at Aviat