Botswana Diamonds completes drilling programme on Thorny River farms

Botswana Diamonds announced on Thursday that the intensification drilling programme had concluded on the farms Frischgewaagt and Hartbeesfontein, which formed part of the Thorny River project.

The AIM-traded firm said the purpose of the drilling programme was to enable detailed planning for a bulk sampling programme, which would begin after the necessary regulatory approvals had been received, with those expected during the course of the second quarter.

It said the programme comprised 33 holes and 1,282 meters of drilling which, together with previous work, resulted in a total drilled depth of 3,299 meters in five areas on the two farms whilst Botswana Diamonds had been active on the property.

The intensification drilling programme had allowed further definition of the kimberlite blow and fissure complex, and added to data already generated by gravity, magnetic, maxmin and other advanced exploration techniques.

A bulk sampling target of 3.9 km of linear kimberlite fissure intersection had been identified from the results, the board said, with intersections of up to 18 meters from four meters below surface.

Areas hosting possible blows were also identified, with Botswana saying those would form part of the bulk sampling area, which was adjacent to that from which a bulk sample was taken in early 2018.

That indicated diamond values of between $120 and $220 per carat, and grades of between 46 and 74 carats per hundred tonnes.

“Following refurbishment, wet commissioning has been concluded on a nearby kimberlite treatment facility where the bulk samples will be processed,” the Botswana Diamonds said in its statement.

“Early stage work is also progressing on potential secondary diamond deposits in the project area, with a number of targets being identified.

“The nearby and worked-out Marsfontein diamond mine was host to alluvial diamond deposits running at grades of 1,433 cpht.”