(Cape Town, May 09, 2007) — Diamond Fields International Ltd. (DFI:TSX) (“DFI” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has exercised its option to acquire the rights to the Valozoro nickel property in Madagascar and now owns 100% of these exploration rights which are valid until May 2011.
The Valozoro nickel deposit is located 60 kilometres north of the town of Fianarantsoa in south central Madagascar and is reported in the Catalogue des Principaux Gites Mineraux de Madagascar (Catalogue of Principal Mineral Deposits of Madagascar). During 1956 and 1957, UGINE completed an extensive prospecting program and reported an estimated resource of 3.7 million tons of lateritic ore (derived from an altered peridotite host) grading 1.75% nickel containing 65,000 tonnes of contained nickel metal. This is a historical resource estimate and a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves under National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”). The Company is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves as defined in sections 1.2 and 1.3 of NI 43-101, and accordingly the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
DFI has completed a reconnaissance level sampling pass over the Valozoro lateritic nickel deposit with results from the program confirming the presence of a high grade nickel deposit (the results of this program were announced in a news release dated March 4, 2004). The reconnaissance pass of sampling collected 1 meter chip and channel samples through the lateritic profile by re-visiting 18 of the more than 454 pits excavated on the property by UGINE. In addition road cuts and hillside exposures of mineralization were sampled and 170 of the pits were mapped and logged for depth.
Pit sampling was restricted to pits with a maximum depth of 8 metres (m) due to equipment constraints, while mapping shows that some pits reach a depth of 17.5 m. The shallow depth of sampling meant that results are mainly from the upper 6.6 m of lower grade boulder dominated material. Sampling returned grades between 0.61% and 1.77% nickel over thicknesses of 4 to 6 m in 10 of the 18 pits sampled in this upper horizon. Where sampling reached the serpentinised lower part of the deposit a dramatic improvement of grade was seen with values ranging between 3.5% nickel over 2m to 5.9% nickel over 1m in three pits.
Grab and chip samples collected over the deposit in road cuts and slump exposures of the laterite horizon returned Ni values as high as 8.56% nickel from the argillaceous serpentine of the exposed lower horizon.
Crushing, milling and geochemical analysis of the DFI samples was carried out by Anglo American Research Laboratories (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg, South Africa. The samples were processed using the ICPME46A method. Mr. Randal Cullen, P.Geol, Chief Geologist for DFI at the time, was a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and was responsible for program design and quality control of this exploration undertaken by DFI.
DFI’s exploration plans include drilling and continuation of the sampling of existing pits to build a definitive picture of tonnage and nickel grade distribution in the deposit as well as prospecting in the vicinity for similar additional mineralization.
On December 28, 2005 the Company reported that Inco Ltd. had advised Diamond Fields that it does not plan further work on the Company’s Ammassalik nickel project in East Greenland and thereby retains no interest in the land package compiled by Diamond Fields. Following assessment of exploration data the Company is not planning further exploration programs on these properties.
Roger J. Daniel, B.Sc. (Hons) Geology, London, Pr.Sci.Nat., the Company’s President and CEO, is a Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and is also a registered geological scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and is thus a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Daniel has compiled and reviewed the scientific and technical information contained in this News Release.
DIAMOND FIELDS INTERNATIONAL LTD.
“Roger J. Daniel”
Roger J. Daniel, President and CEO
For further information, contact Roger Daniel at +27 21 425 1990 Website: www.diamondfields.com
Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in the Company’s periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. Such forward-looking information represents management’s best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Diamond Fields does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement other than in accordance with applicable law.