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| |   The Mothae Diamond Project is a 24.7 square kilometre concession located in one of the most prolific diamond producing regions in the world. The project hosts a large diamondiferous kimberlite pipe with an estimated surface extent of 8.8 hectares and is located adjacent to and directly on trend with the world-famous Letseng diamond mine. Letseng is a high-value, large tonnage, low-grade diamond mine operated by De Beers from 1976 to 1982 and recently put back into production by Gem Diamond Mining Company. Letseng has a reputation for producing very large, high quality type IIA diamonds. In late 2006 the recovery of the 603 carat "Lesotho Promise" attracted wide media attention. This stone is the fifteenth largest diamond ever found in the world and was sold for greater than US$12.3 million or US$20,500 per carat. A 216 carat almost flawless white D colour stone was reported in February 2007 and is expected to garner an even higher value per carat. A production grade of 1.9 carats per 100 tonnes has been achieved at Letseng since 2004 and approximately 100,700 carats of diamonds have been recovered at an average current value of US$1,380 per carat. Other similar kimberlites in southern Africa are the low-grade (now mined out) Jagersfontein kimberlite and the Premier Mine, producer of the world's largest diamond, the Cullinan, which is a type IIA.  The Mothae kimberlite was discovered in the early 1960s and proven to be diamondiferous. However, exploration and sampling carried out at that time was insufficient to determine diamond size distribution and value. Current work and evaluation of the project by Motapa Diamonds Inc. has included an extensive ground geophysical program comprising gravity, magnetic and electromagnetic surveys which have greatly assisted in the delineation of the kimberlite body. Surface pitting has provided material to characterize kimberlite lithologies and to estimate the relative diamond potential of these lithologies based on kimberlite indicator mineral chemistry. Lucara and Motapa have initiated a pre-feasibility evaluation of the Mothae pipe and have completed processing of 100,000 tonnes of kimberlite. This work was carried out in two stages -- an initial 30,000 tonne sample has been processed to gain an initial determination of diamond size distribution. Subsequent to this, an additional 70,000 tonnes have been processed to recover a sufficient diamond parcel for valuation purposes.  Click to Enlarge | | |
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