Cape Town, December 7, 2007: Diamond Fields International Ltd. (DFI:TSX) (“DFI” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that preliminary results from the 2007 marine sampling programme undertaken by Bonaparte Diamond Mines NL (“Bonaparte”) in the ML111 Joint Operations (“JO”) area offshore Namibia, show a 68% increase in the number of samples with positive diamond recovery, compared to the previous year’s programme. The number of positive samples in which more than one diamond was recovered (multiple diamond samples) also increased by 85% over the 2006 operations. The Company is also pleased to report improved production results in Namibia from its mining vessel MV DF Discoverer coming out of the winter months.
2007 Sampling programme
A total of 451 diamonds weighing approximately 160 carats were recovered from the 290 positive samples during the recently completed 2007 JO sampling programme. The preliminary results are provided in the Table below and recoveries will be adjusted if necessary, after final processing of the samples at the onshore facility in Luderitz.
Comparative Sampling Results in ML 111 JO Area:
|
|
Total No. of Samples |
No. of Positive Samples |
% of Positive Samples |
Multiple diamond samples |
% Multiple Diamond Samples |
No. of Diamonds |
Carats (estimate) |
Ave Size cts/stone |
|
2007 |
668 |
290 |
43% |
106 |
16% |
451 |
160 |
0.36. |
|
2006 |
547 |
146 |
27% |
47 |
9% |
291 |
136 |
0.47 |
|
% Difference (2007 compared to 2006) |
+63% |
|
+85% |
|
|
|
||
The programme was undertaken at Bonaparte’s expense using the De Beers owned dedicated diamond sampling vessel MV Douglas Bay on a sampling grid of approximately 50m by 40m with an average footprint size of approximately 2.1m2 per sample in sediments up to 4m thick. Gravel in the size range +1.5mm to -12mm was screened out for processing and diamond recovery. The design of the programme will enable estimation of Indicated Resources in terms of National Instrument 43-101.
Mining of the 63,000 carats Indicated Resource defined in the 2006 sampling programme in the original JO area has been ongoing since commencement in January 2007.
DFI’s President and CEO, Roger Daniel commented: “We are delighted with the strong results from the Bonaparte joint operations sampling operations which have identified seven new diamond deposits which will support joint mining operations through 2008/2009. We expect these newly defined areas will be incorporated in the JO production plans early in 2008 to increase current production levels. The recent
sampling programme covered approximately 24% of the expanded JO area of 10.8 km2 and we anticipate further increases to the mining resource base with future development work in this area.”
Diamond sales and October marine diamond production
The sale of the latest parcel of 1,889 carats from the JO marine mining operations off Namibia resulted in gross revenue of US$388,303 at an average price of US$205.55/carat. Total JO sales for production up to October 21, 2007 amounts to 17,455carats sold for US$3,799,772 in total revenue at an average price of US$217.69/carat.
Coming out of the winter months, diamond production continued to improve in October 2007 with recovery of 4,864 diamonds weighing 1,894 carats. Production in September 2007 was 1,618 carats. Total production from the JO area to October 31, 2007 is 42,827 diamonds weighing 18,139 carats at an average size of 0.42 carats/stone.
Roger J. Daniel, B.Sc. (Hones) Geology, London, Pr.Sci.Nat., the Company’s President and CEO, who is a Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), is also a registered geological scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), and is thus a Qualified Person in terms of National Instrument 43-101, 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 Diamond Fields’ 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.