"What is the target Karats/ton GZD would think is economical?"
Hi Swamp Donkey
At this time there really is no answer to your question. GZD needs to drill and see if theres kimberlite, take that kimberlite, if any, and see what the diamond recoveries are, if any.
Lets say they hit kimberlite, but just because theres kimberlite doesn't mean theres diamonds. Diamonds are carbon, they have the same properties as a charcoal briquette, they might of burned on the way up or the kimberlite might never of sampled the diamond stability field.
Lets say they recover diamonds. Well its game on. Right now I don't care about grade, we need kimberlite and than we need to see some diamonds in it. Looking for diamonds is a long multi stage exhaustive process. One step at a time, kimberlite than diamonds than go from there.
Whether a deposit, gold or diamonds, is economical is a function of many factors coming together. Size, grade, infrastructure, enviromental, native issues, recovery etc. But with diamonds you have an added factor, the diamonds themselves. You see an oz of gold is an oz of gold. Its got a set price and thats that. A diamond is a different beast alltogether.
Diamonds are different sizes, the bigger the more valuable, off white are worth less than white, coloured stones more than white. So each diamond is worth a different price per carat. With a diamond deposit you have to take bulk samples across all the different kimberlite phases to get an idea of average carat value. Most of a kimberlites value is found in the larger stones or the coloured ones.
So for somebody to say off the top of their head "Well we need .5 carat per tonne" is impossible. In the NWT .5 would never be mined, in Saskatchewan with their immense kimberlites measuring in the hundreds of millions of tonnes .19 is thought to be economical but there average carat value is well over $120. Saskatchewan has economy of scale, NWT has hi grade.
Keep your fingers crossed for kimberlite and than that theres diamonds in it. Than we'll go from there!
ttfn
nopoo
