WAD West African

 

TIDMWAD 
 
RNS Number : 4892T 
West African Diamonds PLC 
08 June 2009 
 

8th June 2009 
 
 
GUINEA PRODUCTION & EXPLORATION UPDATE 
 
 
 
 
  *  The Bomboko Alluvial Diamond Mine is on stream 
  *  The Droujba kimberlites are being drilled 
 
 
 
The board of West African Diamonds plc, the AIM listed diamonds and precious 
metals explorer and developer (AIM: WAD), is pleased to provide an update on 
activities in Guinea. 
 
 
Production commenced at the Bomboko Mine in April, using a small 10 foot pan 
plant and a 14 tonne excavator. The full scale plant, a 16 foot pan and a 46 
tonne excavator are on site and currently being commissioned. The cost of 
commissioning will be met from the sale of gold mining equipment in Sierra Leone 
and from diamond revenue. This will take production from 10 tonnes to 80 tonnes 
an hour on a three shifts per day basis. Current operating costs of US$7.50 a 
tonne is targeted to fall to US$5.00 a tonne with full production. 
 
 
To date, a total of 261.6 carats have been produced from 4,200 tonnes of gravel, 
giving a grade of 6.2 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). Visual observation 
indicates that 60% of the stones are gem quality and includes three stones 
weighing 9.71, 7.52 and 5.26 carats. 
 
 
The diamonds will not be sold until there is an adequate parcel to get a 
representative value but, historically, gemstones from the Bomboko are of good 
quality and obtain good prices. 
 
 
During the current wet season, a stockpile of 10,000 tonnes of gravel will be 
used to feed the pan plant. Once the larger plant is operational the current, 
smaller plant will be used as a "prospector" unit ahead of the main plant. 
 
 
Droujba 
 
 
Drilling is ongoing to test the anomalies discovered from the detailed ground 
geophysics undertaken by West African Diamonds. A mobile Dense Media Separation 
(DMS) plant has been commissioned on site. Bulk sampling will commence when the 
current drilling programme concludes. 
 
 
This release has been reviewed by Alex van Zyl, Technical Director, West African 
Diamonds plc.  Alex van Zyl (B.Sc. Stellenbosch, B.Sc. Hons. Pretoria) spent a 
long career in Anglo American in the diamond division, ending up 1990 to 1997 
with worldwide responsibility for diamond exploration and evaluation. He was a 
consultant to De Beers from 1997 to 2002. 
 
 
 
 
James Campbell, Deputy Chairman of West African Diamonds, commented: 
"It is a tribute to our team on the ground in Guinea that our Bomboko Mine came 
on stream as scheduled and within cost. We are pleased with the grade and 
quality of diamonds being discovered. All equipment necessary to expand to 
30,000 tonnes a month throughput is on site and being commissioned". 
 
 
 
 
Enquiries: 
 
 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
| West African Diamonds plc          |                         | 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
| John Teeling, Chairman             |  + 353 1 833 2833       | 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
| James Campbell, Deputy Chairman    |  +27 83 457 3724        | 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
| Blue Oar Securities plc            | +44 (0)20 7448 4400     | 
| Andrew Raca                        |                         | 
| Jerry Keen                         |                         | 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
| College Hill                       | +44 (0) 20 7457 2020    | 
| Paddy Blewer                       |                         | 
| Nick Elwes                         |                         | 
+------------------------------------+-------------------------+ 
 
 
www.westafdiamonds.com 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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