29th Apr 2005 08:20
Gravity Diamonds Limited29 April 2005 RELEASED ON BEHALF OF: GRAVITY DIAMONDS LIMITED (ASX & AIM : GRN) 29 APRIL, 2005 Quarterly Report for the period ended 31 March 2005 • Northern Australian Diamonds ABN21 kimberlite discovery with 147 microdiamonds and two small macro-diamondsrecovered. Almost all of the diamonds recovered are unresorbed, colourless octahedra withflat faces and sharp edges. • Kasai Craton - Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") Preliminary results from the large-scale, regional heavy mineral samplingprogram were received in late April 2005.- 70 sites in Kasai Craton show kimberlitic garnets; 10 return macrodiamonds.- Planned aeromagnetic survey to be extended into new target areas.- Completion of target identification and follow-up planned for this fieldseason. • Ellendale-Blina No work was reported for the quarter • King George North JV No work was reported for the quarter. CORPORATE • AIM Listing Trading of the company's issued share capital on the AIM commenced on 8 April2005. • Appointment of Manager - Democratic Republic Congo Mr Martin Pawlitschek was appointed Exploration Manager - Africa. He will beresponsible for all facets of Gravity's exploration activities in the DRC. • Cash (31/3/2005) $9.6 million (8 cps) /2 GRAVITY DIAMONDS 2 FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES The following programs are planned for the June 2005 quarter: Project Location Exploration Activity Planned TimetableKasai Craton DRC, Airborne geophysics April - May Africa 2005 DMA (Rio Tinto Northern Ground gravity survey on Abner April -Exploration Agreement) Territory Range and other targets June 2005 Ellendale Diamonds Ellendale Target identification and June 2005(Blina Diamonds JV) planning DMA (Striker JV) King George Planning for follow-up work on June 2005 North identified targets CORPORATE AIM Listing On 8 April 2005, trading of the company's issued share capital on the AIM, inLondon, commenced. In early March, RFC Corporate Finance Limited, the company's Nominated Adviser,lodged all of the necessary paperwork in connection with the admission of theissued share capital of Gravity Diamonds Limited to trading on the London AIMmarket. Gravity Diamonds has been pursuing a strategy towards this listing as the boardconsidered that listing the company's issued share capital on AIM would enhancethe potential and value of the company. This was largely as a result of theplacement of shares to BHP Billiton and sophisticated European investors in thesecond half of 2004 which saw a shift in the shareholder base towards Europe andan increase in the importance of the company's exploration effort in the DRC.The board of Gravity Diamonds recognised that listing the company's issued sharecapital on AIM would enhance the potential and value of the company. Appointment of Country Manager - DRC Mr Martin Pawlitschek was appointed to the position of Exploration Manager -Africa. He will be responsible for all facets of Gravity's explorationactivities in the DRC. Martin has previously worked with BHP Billiton inexploration in both Australia and Africa. While with BHP Billiton, he wasdirectly involved in developing the diamond exploration strategy for the KasaiCraton project now taken over by Gravity. He brings with him a wealth ofknowledge for operating large-scale exploration programs in the more remoteareas of the African continent and has joined Gravity to lead the DRCexploration program. AUSTRALIAN PROGRAM Northern Australian Diamonds JV (Rio Tinto Exploration Agreement, DMA can earn51%) A helicopter supported ground gravity survey and reconnaissance program startedat the end of April, centred on the ABN21 diamondiferous kimberlite discovery.Further drilling of this discovery and the other priority target areas willcommence upon the cessation of the Northern Australian wet season. /3 GRAVITY DIAMONDS 3 Abner Range (McArthur Project) This area is centred 42 kilometres southwest of Xstrata's McArthur River Mine.As announced to the ASX on 17 January 2005, two of four RC drill holes drilledinto a FALCON(R) gravity anomaly, known as ABN21, intersected kimberliticmaterial. Subsequent dense media separation carried out on drill hole cuttings recoverednumerous kimberlitic indicator minerals along with 147 microdiamonds and twosmall macrodiamonds. Almost all of the diamonds recovered are unresorbed,colourless octahedra with flat faces and sharp edges, which could be indicativeof gem quality stones. Observation of the +0.3mm and -0.3mm +0.1mm fractions of heavy mineralsrecovered from holes ARC001 and ARC003 reported abundant indicator mineralsbeing present as well as the following macro and microdiamond count: Hole No. Macrodiamonds Microdiamonds ARC001 - 68 ARC003 2 79 The results for ARC003 are considered to be particularly encouraging as highwater inflows in soft kimberlitic clays led to poor sample recovery and causedthe premature termination of the hole at 28 metres. Gravity is confident thatimproved sample returns in further drilling this field season should bereflected in the recovered diamond count. A further 28 targets within a 10 kilometre radius of the ABN21 discovery willalso be mapped and sampled in the current program. Some of these were previouslyidentified as being of particularly high priority but could not be accessed inthe 2004 field season. Other targets have been identified as a result of areview and consolidation of data following the ABN21 discovery. Analytical results from this sampling program are expected in June and will beused to prioritise the company's future exploration and guide follow-updrilling. A full program of follow-up testing at Abner Range is planned for late June onceground conditions are dry enough for the main access track to the site to bere-established. This will permit mobilisation of drilling and bulk samplingequipment together with the necessary support infrastructure. Abner Range is part of Gravity's largest diamond exploration area in Australia,covering some 40,000 square kilometres of tenements in a number of differentareas of the Northern Territory. It is subject to the Rio Tinto ExplorationAgreement and is managed by Gravity, in which it is earning a 51 percentinterest. The company believes this early start to the program on this exciting andpromising exploration project should enable the evaluation of the potential ofthe area during the 2005 field season. /4 GRAVITY DIAMONDS 4 Lancewood (McArthur Project) A review of the FALCON(R) gravity dataset continued during the quarter, withreference to the gravity signature of the kimberlite discovery at Abner Range,to ascertain whether similar anomalies exist within the existing survey area. Eight targets remain to be tested during the 2005 field season. Larrimah (Hodgson Project) No activity was carried out during the period. Tanaburs (McArthur Project) No activity was carried out during the period. Four high priority anomalies remain to be sampled with one identified as atarget requiring drill testing during 2005. Benda (Arnhem Project), Cox-Arnold (Hodgson Project), Tee Dee (Victoria Project) Negotiations continued to enable access to these untested targets. Ellendale JV (50/50 JV with Blina Diamonds NL, Blina managing) Blina Diamonds NL reported no activity for the quarter. King George North JV (50/50 JV with Striker Resources NL, Striker managing) Striker Resources NL reported no activity during the quarter. Gravity Diamonds and Striker Resources are planning conclusive explorationprograms for early in the 2005 field exploration season. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (KASAI CRATON) JV(BHP Billiton JV, Gravity can earn 100%) A large-scale, regional heavy mineral sampling program involving threehelicopter-supported crews was completed during the December 2004 quarter. Theprogram covered tenement areas on the Kasai Craton where alluvial diamondoccurrences are abundant and the kimberlitic source for these diamonds isexpected to be located. Preliminary, but as yet incomplete, results from the program were received inlate April 2005. The results are highly encouraging and include the recovery ofkimberlitic garnets and macrodiamonds from initial stream sediment sampling over17,600 square kilometres of the Kasai Craton diamond project in the DRC. /5 GRAVITY DIAMONDS 5 Laboratory analysis of the coarse fraction (+0.425mm) of the 247 samplescollected in the 2004 field season shows that kimberlitic garnets and a largenumber of kimberlitic ilmenite grains have been recovered from 70 sample sites.Ten of these sites also returned macrodiamonds. The exact nature of thekimberlitic garnets will be determined by micro-probe analysis of selectedgrains over the next month. Results from analysis of the fine fraction of thesamples are expected in about three weeks. These initial results are very encouraging, particularly the fact thatkimberlitic garnets have been recovered from so many sites. At this early stage,the garnets are more meaningful than the macrodiamonds since they are morelikely to have been recycled from kimberlite pipes than younger formations.Their recovery is a good indicator of the probable presence of kimberlite in thearea. Diamonds, by virtue of their extreme hardness, can survive repeatedrecycling and do not necessarily indicate a kimberlite source in the immediatevicinity. Based on these results, several specific areas have been identified totallingsome 5,000 square kilometres for further follow-up work. All lie within a regionwhere alluvial diamond workings were encountered during the 2004 program. Aplanned aeromagnetic survey, scheduled to start in late April, will now beextended to include all of the target areas identified as a result of the 2004sampling. The early commencement of the survey should allow target identification andfollow-up work to be completed before the end of the current field season.Specific areas for follow-up have been identified in the region which isconsidered to be one of the best unexplored diamond terrains in the world. Elsewhere within the Kasai project, stream sediment sampling has begun on thenext block of concessions which covers an area of about 23,000 squarekilometres. This phase of fieldwork is anticipated to take 3-4 months tocomplete and results from the sample analysis are expected towards the end of2005. The Kasai Craton is the extension of the diamond-rich Angolan Craton into theDRC and is generally considered to be amongst the most prospective unexploreddiamond terrains in the world. Through an agreement with BHP Billiton, Gravityhas gained access to large areas of this ground and has a unique opportunity touse modern diamond exploration techniques not previously applied in the region.The program will include high-resolution aeromagnetics over the areas drained bythe rivers from which kimberlitic indicator minerals have been recovered. Thiswill enable very precise magnetic anomaly maps of these areas to be drawn-up. These tenements are subject to the Framework Agreement between Gravity and BHPBilliton in relation to which Gravity is currently earning a 100% interest. Further Information: Phil Harman, Managing Director, Gravity Diamonds Ltd. Tel: 00-61-3-9909-7655Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Ltd. Tel: 020-7628-5518 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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