VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Feb. 19, 2009) – Stornoway Diamond Corporation (TSX:SWY) and Hunter Exploration Group (Hunter) are pleased to report results from the processing of the first 43 tonnes of an approximately 200 tonne sample of kimberlite collected during 2008 from within the Eastern Sheet Complex (“ESC”) of the Aviat Project, Nunavut.
To date, 89.55 carats of diamonds have been recovered from 42.67 tonnes (dry weight) of kimberlite, representing an overall diamond recovery of 210 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) for stones retained on a +1 DTC screen. The largest diamond recovered in this sample is a 0.81 carat grey fragment. The largest diamond recovered from the ESC from previous sampling is a 3.64 carat gem quality white dodecahedron (see press release dated January 21, 2008: http://media3.marketwire.com/r/stornowayjan212008).
Scientific and Technical Data
Diamond results reported in this release are based on DMS processing work completed by Microlithics Laboratories, Thunder Bay, Ontario, an independent mineral process laboratory currently providing services to Stornoway. The 42.67 tonne sample was processed through a 1.5 tonne per hour (tph) DMS plant designed to recover stones retained on a 0.85mm square mesh sieve. Kimberlite was prepared through a primary jaw crusher, with -10 mm material fed directly into the DMS. All +10 mm material was subsequently reduced through secondary cone crushing. A further re-crush of +2mm reject material is performed to facilitate the recovery of small diamonds. Recovery of diamonds from the DMS concentrate was carried out at Stornoway’s wholly owned diamond laboratory in North Vancouver whereby concentrates were processed twice through x-ray sorter equipment to generate a final concentrate which was hand sorted to extract diamonds. A grease table finish was used to recover diamonds from all x-ray sorter rejects. Quality assurance protocols, security and actual operating procedures for the processing, transport and recovery of diamonds conform to industry standard Chain of Custody provisions. As part of Stornoway’s ongoing QA/QC program, DMS tails, concentrate residues and other materials are also subject to audit. Any significant changes to the recovered diamond grades provided above will be reported when available.
Stornoway Diamond Corporation
Stornoway Diamond Corporation is one of Canada’s leading diamond exploration and development companies, involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts. The Company benefits from a diversified diamond property portfolio, a strong financial platform and management and technical teams with experience in each segment of the diamond “pipeline” from exploration to marketing. Stornoway’s diamond exploration programs are conducted under the direction of Robin Hopkins, P.Geol. (NT/NU), Vice President, Exploration, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr Hopkins has read this press release and approves of its contents.
On behalf of the Board