Diamonds are one of the most popular types of gemstones known to man. Millions of people wear jewelry that is adorned with diamonds on a daily basis. There are several locations around the world in which diamonds are mined; however, geologists are always searching the world for new areas to mine for diamonds. While it is possible to find diamonds anywhere, there are certain geographical locations that are much more likely to produce a higher quantity of diamonds than others. When geologists are searching for potential diamond mining sites, they will begin their search by looking for areas of earth that are concentrated with kimberlite. This is because many of the kimberlite pipes around the world are heavily concentrated with diamonds.
In early February 2008, a helicopter survey of the Cacuilo and Lulo Rivers in Angola revealed an exciting discovery, the existence of new kimberlite pipes that have never been excavated. While it has not yet been confirmed that they are kimberlite pipes, other magnetic abnormalities in various other regions of the area are confirmed kimberlite pipes and the magnetic abnormalities that were discovered have the same features of the currently mined kimberlite pipes.
The survey covered 1,000 square kilometers of land searching for potential kimberlite pipes that would yield the potential for producing diamonds. Of the two hundred seventeen areas that were discovered, it has been estimated that approximately one hundred sixty of the areas are kimberlite. The only way to confirm that the areas are kimberlite is to begin drilling in the areas. A drilling program is scheduled to launch sometime later this year on the six largest areas of suspected kimberlite. It has also been speculated that this could be the largest area of kimberlite discovered since the Orapa mine in Botswana in the 1960s.
There are several methods that current diamond producers and geologist use to determine which areas of kimberlite concentrations will be the most likely to produce quality diamonds. One of the methods that are currently employed when it comes to determining which areas will be drilled is the size of the kimberlite areas. Several existing drilling companies have determined that the larger sizes of the kimberlite areas are the ones that historically have produced the highest quality diamonds. This is the rationale that was used to determine which areas of kimberlite concentration would be drilled first.
While it sounds very straight forward, the actual process of drilling the kimberlite areas is very difficult. The areas of kimberlite concentration are located in very dense forest areas, so the first thing that will have to be done is to construct roads that lead to the areas of the highest kimberlite concentration, which will be no easy task. After the roads are completed, the actual process of beginning the drilling process will commence.
After the drills have been installed, they will begin to remove tons of earth to be sampled at the Cacuilo River diamond recovery plant. The goal of the initial sampling of the areas of the highest kimberlite concentration is to determine the best methods of treating the gravel to expel the diamonds. Another reason for the initial testing is to determine the expected grades of the diamonds that are located within each deposit and their expected value. This will help miners determine which mines will be the most profitable, so that they will be able to focus their efforts on those mines and not waste time and resources on less profitable areas.
The agency that will be performing all of these tasks is the Lulo Diamond Concession, which is located in the Cuango River Basin. Lonrho Mining is the company that will be overseeing all of the mining within the area. The Lulo Diamond Concession is Lonrho Mining’s largest exploration project to date and was begun based on the expectancy that there would be very high diamond yields in the areas that they would be drilling.
Lonrho Mining announced earlier in the year that they signed an agreement with the Angolian national diamond company, known as Endiama, to obtain exclusive concessionary for the area’s diamond mining rights. Lonrho Mining has signed an agreement that entitles them to thirty nine percent of the initial joint revenue that will be created by the project. Once all of the initial expenses of the project have been recovered, the revenue received by Lonrho Mining will decrease to thirty percent.
The terms that were agreed upon by Lonrho Mining and Endiama required that Lonrho Mining pay an initial deposit of $1.4 million dollars in cash, which will be refunded and the exploration process is complete.
While it is obvious that the individuals involved with the discovery of the new areas of diamond concentrations will benefit, consumers will be able to benefit as well.
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