30th Jan 2014 07:00
30 January 2014
Golden Saint Resources Ltd
("Golden Saint" or the "Company")
Operational Update - Grant of Artisanal licences to local miners
Golden Saint (AIM:GSR) is pleased to announce that it has sponsored the application for the grant of five artisanal licences to local miners from the Tongo and Baja project areas held by Golden Saint. Grant of these licences has recently been approved for one year and the initial activity is planned for the first quarter of2014 before the onset of the 2014 wet season.
These artisanal licences are located in the Sierra Leone diamond fields in the eastern parts of Sierra Leone. The alluvial diamond producing areas are concentrated in Kono, Kenema and Bo Districts and are mainly situated in the drainage areas of the Sewa, Bafi, Woa, Mano and Moa Rivers.
Small-scale artisanal mining has sustained the country's eastern region since diamonds were discovered in 1930, and it was here that the 968.9-carat Star of Sierra Leone - the largest alluvial diamond ever found - was mined in 1972.
Alluvial diamond concentrations in Sierra Leone occur in river channel gravels, flood-plain gravels, terrace gravels, gravel residues in soils and swamps as a result of surface weathering and erosion of primary diamond deposits over millions of years. The diamonds are transported by rivers, and deposited and concentrated in a new environment such as certain portions of the river bed, a shoreline or an ocean floor.
Cyril D'Silva, Golden Saint's Executive Chairman commented "Grant of these licences forms a major component in Golden Saint's corporate and social development strategy to sponsor the local community and provide ongoing employment and income for the local people. The contribution of artisanal diamond mining to income generation, employment, gross domestic product, export earnings and tax revenues in Sierra Leone is high as it provides more jobs than any other after subsistence agriculture."
Further to our previous announcement on completion of the airborne survey, interpretation of the processed geophysical data is being finalised and will be reported within the week in an upcoming exploration update.
For further information please contact:
Golden Saint Resources Ltd
| Cyril D'Silva, Executive Chairman | +618 64677778 |
Beaumont Cornish Limited
| Roland Cornish / Emily Staples | +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Optiva Securities
| Jeremy King | +44 (0)20 3137 1904 |
Newgate Threadneedle
| Graham Herring/Robyn McConnachie | +44 (0)20 7653 9850 |
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