18th Apr 2007 09:02
Sunrise Diamonds PLC18 April 2007 www.sunrisediamonds.com 18 April 2007 SUNRISE DIAMONDS NARROWS SEARCH FOR POTENTIAL DIAMOND SOURCE AT SEVERAL OF ITS FINLAND TARGETS • Sampling Planned For Three More Kimberlites For Microdiamond Content And Grade • Potential Source Area Narrowed At Kuopio Target 295 • Till Sampling Results From 14 Priority Targets Expected At End Of May___________________________________________________________________________ Sunrise Diamonds plc ("Sunrise Diamonds" or "the Company") is pleased to providethe following update on its diamond exploration activities in Finland. KAAVI-KUOPIO KIMBERLITES (NORDIC DIAMONDS JOINT VENTURE CLAIMS) The Company's Canadian consultants have recommended that further work beundertaken on three of the kimberlite pipes in the Kaavi-Kuopio district whichfall under a joint venture agreement with Nordic Diamonds Ltd. The Company is toproceed with the collection of 200kg samples from each of these kimberlites formicrodiamond testing and grade evaluation. In August 2006, the Company announced an agreement giving it the right to earn a75% interest in certain claims in the Kaavi-Kuopio district of south centralFinland covering 16 kimberlite pipes discovered in the 1990's and now held byNordic Diamonds Ltd. ("Nordic"). Sunrise Diamonds previously identified many of these kimberlites as warrantingfurther evaluation and in late 2006 contracted Minerals Services Canada Inc.("Minerals Services") a leading diamond exploration, consulting and laboratorygroup to evaluate the six of these priority kimberlites where archived drillcore was still available (Kimberlites 2, 3, 4, 10, 14 & 22). Core samples wereprocessed by Mineral Services to evaluate indicator mineral abundance andmineral chemistry using its proprietary *Mantle MapperTM process. As a result Minerals Services has now recommended that additional samples betaken from Kimberlites 10, 14 and 22 for microdiamond extraction and diamondgrade evaluation (no further work was recommended for Kimberlites 2, 3 or 4). Previous exploration suggests Kimberlite Pipe 10 is currently the largest ofthese bodies with a surface area of approximately 2 hectares. Pipe 14 has theform of a thick dyke or elongated pipe with a width of over 30m and a knownstrike length of 100m. Significantly, it is open along strike in bothdirections. Kimberlite 22 appears to be relatively small but has not been closedoff by previous drilling. Other priority kimberlites not examined by Minerals Services (due to shortage ofarchived sample material) include Kimberlite 17. This pipe has a surface area ofapproximately 2 hectares and indicator mineral chemistry suggesting good diamondprospectivity but records indicate only minimal sampling suggesting that thediamond content has not been systematically evaluated. As soon as a drill rig becomes available the Company will start a drillingprogramme on Kimberlites 10, 14 and 17 to collect 200kg samples from each pipefor microdiamond testing and diamond grade evaluation, as well as to furtherdefine the extent of Pipe 14. Pipe 22 is located underneath a lake and is,therefore, a winter drilling target. Other pipes of further interest covered by the Nordic JV claims includeKimberlites 12 (1.6 hectares) and 21 (1.3 hectares). The latter returned highmicro-diamond counts of up to 1.84 micro-diamonds/kg of kimberlite in Nordicsampling which supported the results of a 16.6 tonne mini-bulk sample previouslytaken by Ashton Mining in 1995. This returned a reported grade of 26.7 caratsper hundred tonnes including a stone of 1.13 carats. Individually Pipes 12 and21 are currently considered too small for development but could provide feed fora central processing plant in the Kaavi-Kuopio area if this can be justified byfuture developments. Target 295 The Company's previous till (surface sediment) sampling at Target 295 returnedhigh counts of diamond-prospective kimberlite indicator minerals and onemicrodiamond. A weak magnetic anomaly in one possible source area was targeted with a singledrill hole in February this year but this failed to discover a diamond source.Subsequently the Company completed a systematic deep-till drill-samplingprogramme that defined a discrete source area. A gravity survey covering thisarea is planned for mid-May with any resulting anomalies scheduled for drilltesting by the end of May. OTHER TARGETS Target 298 (Kaavi-Kuopio area) At Target 298, where kimberlite boulders with high microdiamond contents (22stones and five fragments in a 20.8kg sample) have been found in surficialsediments, recent prospecting and sampling has narrowed the potential sourcearea and ruled out existing pipes as the source of the diamondiferous kimberliteboulders. Follow-up work is in progress to define drill targets. Target 32 (Kuusamo area) Target 32 is a magnetic anomaly (kimberlite target) identified by the Company in2005 but which was previously considered to have been tested by an earlierexplorer with negative results. However, the Company's previous testing of verysimilar magnetic anomalies in the Kuusamo area has found kimberlite in all casesand experience has shown that these anomalies are difficult to model andintersect in drilling - in which case the earlier explorer may have missed thekimberlite source (as was the case with De Beers before the Company discoveredthe Lampi kimberlite). Further drill testing of this anomaly is scheduled for early June. Kalletomanpuro Group II kimberlite This, the Company's original kimberlite discovery in Finland in 2005, is anarrow (1-2 metre wide) dyke with indicator mineral chemistry that is the mostdiamond prospective of all of the Company's Kuusamo discoveries to-date. A smallsample (22kg) taken in 2005 did not contain any microdiamonds but is consideredtoo small to be representative. Further exploration is warranted to investigatethe full extent of the dyke and to obtain representative samples formicrodiamond analysis. Geophysics and drilling are planned for the early summer. Kuusamo Regional Targets Previous news releases have referred to till sampling of 14 priority targets inthe Kuusamo area carried out in November 2006. Processing and picking of thesesamples for kimberlite indicator minerals was delayed due to a sample backlog atthe Geological Survey of Finland's processing facilities in Kuhmo. The Directorsof the Company are pleased to report that this backlog is now cleared andresults are expected by the end of May. Further Info: Patrick Cheetham, Sunrise Diamonds plc. Tel: +44 (0)1625-505947.Mob: +44 (0)7767-458751 John Greenhalgh/Ron Marshman, City of London PR Ltd. Tel: +44 ( 0)20-7628-5518 The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Mr. PatrickCheetham. Mr Cheetham is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals &Mining and also a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy. * Mantle MapperTM is a powerful tool developed by leading kimberlite scientistsfor quantitative analysis of the abundance and composition of key indicatorminerals in kimberlite. It allows a reliable evaluation of the diamond potentialof the host body. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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