March 13, 2008

Etruscan provides February sales


by Jo Black

Mountain Lake Resources Inc. announces that Etruscan Diamonds Ltd. reported that diamond sales for the month of February averaged in excess of US$750 per carat. These prices are well in excess of the US$466 per carat value ascribed in the recently reported National Instrument 43-101 (”NI 43-101″) compliant resource estimate for the Blue Gum Project and confirm the significantly higher grades and value of diamonds in the deeper gravel packages.

Production at the Tirisano Diamond Mine for the month of February was 45,649 cubic meters yielding 1,224 carats for an overall grade of 2.67 carats per hundred cubic meters. A total of 1,311 carats were placed on tender in early March and the average bid price received was US$845 per carat. A total of 954 carats were sold for gross proceeds of US$727,000 yielding an average price of US$762 per carat. Consistent with the objective of creating a vertically integrated company, 357 carats were withdrawn from the tender for cutting and polishing by Etruscan Diamonds’ strategic partner, African Romance, of Sandton, South Africa. Experience to date indicates that diamond cutting and polishing can add in excess of 40% to rough tender diamond prices.

The diamond production, which generated these sales, came from the Tirisano Diamond Mine on the Blue Gum Project located in the alluvial diamond district of Ventersdorp in South Africa. Etruscan Diamonds recommenced mining at Tirisano in January 2008 and cost of production figures during this transition phase to full production are not yet available. The Tirisano plant is rated to treat 50,000 cubic meters of gravel per month. Etruscan Diamonds has also installed four 16-foot pan plants, which have added an additional 50,000 cubic meters per month capacity to the Tirisano operations. The ramp-up of the pre-existing plant and the new pan plants will continue and is expected to achieve the forecast production rate of 100,000 cubic meters per month within sixty days. The 100,000 cubic meters per month operation is anticipated to recover over 2,500 carats per month.

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