Firestone Diamonds plc is a UK-based international diamond mining and exploration company with operations in the Namaqualand region of South Africa and Botswana. Namaqualand, which is located on the west coast of South Africa, has been one of the world's largest alluvial diamond producing regions for the past 60 years, with total production to date estimated to be worth more than $3 billion. Botswana is the world's largest producer of diamonds by value, with annual production of over 20 million carats worth over $1.6 billion.

Firestones strategy has been to build a portfolio comprising advanced development and production projects to provide sustainable cash flow to fund ongoing exploration programmes and to provide an early return on investment, together with large scale exploration projects which have the potential to yield significant reserves of gem quality diamonds.

The company operates the Avontuur Mine and the Oena Mine of Namaqualand, which produces high quality alluvial diamonds, and has a growing portfolio of advanced and early stage exploration projects in known diamond producing areas in Namaqualand and Botswana.



Since 1996 the company has increased reserves and resources more than thirty two times from 34,000 carats to over 1.1 million carats at present, with an estimated gross value of approximately 260 million. Firestone is debt free and well funded and has a highly qualified management team with extensive experience in the financing and development of diamond and other natural resource projects. Firestone is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol FDI.L.

Firestone also has an exploration project in the USA.



Main Mining Pit, Avontuur Mine, Namaqualand, South Africa.






For FDI Corporate information : http://www.firestonediamonds.com/frcorporate.htm

For FDI homepage : http://www.firestonediamonds.com/index.htm

Firestone Dimaonds shares in issue: 65m 20p Ords

Firestone Diamonds PLC - Major Shareholders

Major Shareholders ---- Amount --- % Holding
Elfin Trust Company Ltd 7,200,000 16.68
Aurora Investment Trust 7,200,000 16.68
Gartmore Investment Mgt 5,418,116 12.56

Andy,

Thanks for that, I agree a very positive picture for Botswana

Ray A,

I feel the market was expecting GRV news, so the price is static at the moment, but I think once people have had an opportunity to digest this news, and PK has presented at Merrill Lynch this afternoon, hopefully this enormous increase in exploration potential will be taken into account with a higher share price.

Interestingly AFD is up today, on no news!

Andy,

Yes, I agree. Had considered top slicing some recent purchases but decided to hold back when profit takers rapidly pulled SP back a little.

Interesting comment re AFD, reminds me when HNR RNS pulled SEY back for news already in public domain!

ray A,

Well I closed my spreads at the top, but held onto my stock.

Since then they have played around with the price, PK is due to speak anytime now, so we may see a few late buys if the audience like what they hear.

Andy,

Not tried spreads yet. Still, decided to sell a few of recent purchases at end of day and got 124.9 p, the highest sell SP I've seen today. Not bad after picking them up at 86.7p a couple of months ago. Kept plenty back for further travel North! SP looks pretty solid today despite all the profit taking.

Ray A,

Yes it's not a profit until it's in the bank, and with a 50% markup in quick time it's not a bad move to secure some profits IMO, well done!

It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, whether there is any follow through with volume.

What a good day!

queen1,

Aye!

let's hope PK's presentation went down well with the attendees at the Merrill Lynch Forum today.

see whether this run as further to go or not in the morning when the market opens

parkin,

Well a bit further, but it's maybe reached it's limit for the moment, although the volume is ok.

There is always the possibility of further news in the immediate future as they have so many projects ongoing, so FDI is not for trading at the moment IMO.

Andy, Parkin,

I agree, having taken a good profit the other day, shall hang onto the other two thirds of trading packet I picked up recently until next item of news, Second sample from GRV cannot be too far away surely!

All the gains are being given back here. A bad day on the markets admittedly but it has also been badly down the previous two days which were market-positive.

Firestones diamond exploration plans for Tsabong
By: Rodrick Mukumbira
Posted: '16-OCT-06 13:00' GMT Mineweb 1997-2006




WINDHOEK (Mineweb.com) --AIM-quoted Firestone Diamond plc, a company with 40-
year experience in diamond mining, was this week working towards finalising its
exploration and evaluation plans - due end of October - after the Botswana
government granted it new prospecting licences covering the entire Tsabong
kimberlite field.

A statement from Firestone's CEO Philip Kenny said the Tsabong field, covering
an area of 5,000 square kilometres and located 280 kilometres south west of the
Jwaneng Mine - the world's biggest diamond mine, is one of the largest
diamondiferous kimberlite fields in the world, containing 67 known kimberlites,
of which 17 have been proven to be diamondiferous.

It also pointed out that the Tsabong area represents an attractive financial
prospect, its economic viability being modest -- 20-25 carats per hundred
tonnes and diamond value of US$100 per carat.

Firestone is also active in the Namaqualand region of South Africa, one of the
most prolific alluvial diamond producing areas in the world, where it operates
the Avontuur, Bonte Koe and Oena mines.

"With the kimberlite exploration and evaluation expertise that we now have in
the Company, and with our cash and cash flow from mining operations in South
Africa, we will be able to move the Tsabong project forward rapidly and
aggressively," said Kenny.

Since 2004, Firestone has also been cooperating with De Beers, the world's
largest diamond mining company in an exploration project in Mopipi, west of
Orapa - a government/De Beers owned diamond mine, following a joint venture.

Firestone said the Tsabong kimberlite field was discovered by Falconbridge in
the 1970s. Between 1977 and 1981 Falconbridge discovered a total of 35
kimberlites in the Tsabong area, including the M1 kimberlite.

It said a limited amount of evaluation was carried out on these kimberlites,
primarily due to their being covered by between 40 and 80 metres of overburden,
which was considered at the time to be deep and close to the limit for
effective evaluation and mining purposes. An extended slump on commodity prices
in the early 1980s forced Falconbridge to stop working on the Tsabong field as
well as withdrawing from its other diamond exploration projects worldwide.

No further work was carried out on the Tsabong kimberlites until the mid 1990s
to 2004 when exploration, on an intermittent basis, was done by a number of
small Canadian and Australian exploration companies with limited budgets
without a new exploration or evaluation work.

Firestone plans to carry out two parallel work programmes at Tsabong, the first
focusing on a detailed and systematic evaluation of all the known kimberlites
in the field.

The second work programme will focus on exploration for new kimberlites. It
said it is in the advanced stage of planning for the projects and expects
fieldwork to commence in November.

Planning for these programmes is at an advanced stage and is expected to be
completed by the end of October 2006, following which preparations for
fieldwork will commence.

"Access to the area is via tarred road from Gaborone and infrastructure in the
area is good, so no significant difficulties are expected in carrying out
fieldwork," said Kenny. "The probable development by De Beers and African
Diamonds of a new diamond mine in the Orapa area on the AK6 kimberlite
(announced in September), which was originally discovered and evaluated in the
1970s and considered at that time to be a small, low-grade kimberlite, provides
an indication of the potential that still remains in Botswana."

I attended the recent Mines and Money Conference, and in particular, the FDI presentation.

Here are my thoughts.


I attended the presentation, and can confirm that PK was both positive and well received by one of the lergest audiences for a single company presentation over the duration of the conference.

Phil spoke mostly about the new Tsabong licence, and emphasised the low CPHT required to make a viable mine. He also pointed out the number of known large kimberlites, and the fact that they are using a two pronged approach to drill the known kimberlites at the same time as exploring for others yet to be discovered, effectively a fast track approach.

GRV also featured, and further bulk samples have been taken and FDI are awaiting these results from De Beers.

Phil also confirmed Bonte Koe is on track, with full production due Q1 2007.

The De Beers Zeppelin has overflown FDI land recently, and exploration continues apace at Daly City, and other sites in the Orapa area of Botswana.

I had a chat with Phil and Tim at the stand and they ran throught the aero mag, and it was clear to see where further exploration targets may reside at Tsabong.

I came away feeling more bullish about FDI than I have for some time to be honest, and as final results are due, IMO it is possible they may deliver some news around that time, we shall see.

Thanks for the overview Andy.

Andy,

Very interesting, thanks. FDI SP been in the doldrums recently and needs a bit of good news (wind) to make progress!

Ray A,

RNS this morning, diamonds found at GRV, although they have more work to do, but at least this is a start.


-----------------------------------------
Firestone Diamonds PLC
06 December 2006

Firestone Diamonds plc

Groen River Valley Exploration Update



LONDON: 6 December 2006



HIGHLIGHTS

Previous exploration recovered high value diamonds and identified 13
deposits in the GRV project area

Diamonds recovered from bulk sampling on HL deposit

Mobile sampling plant to be erected in Q1 2007

Bulk sampling on GR2 deposit scheduled for Q2 2007





Firestone Diamonds plc ('Firestone' or 'the Company'), the AIM-quoted diamond
mining and exploration company, is pleased to provide an update on exploration
at its Groen River Valley joint venture exploration project with De Beers in
South Africa. Exploration on the project to date has identified 13 deposits in
the project area on which a systematic drilling and sampling programme is being
carried out.


HL Deposit

Initial results have been received from the follow-up bulk sampling programme
carried out on the southern portion of the HL deposit. The HL deposit is one of
five north-south trending Axial Channel deposits in the project area.
Approximately 3,000 tonnes of gravel was excavated in four separate blocks from
the bulk sample pit. The gravel recovered appears to be similar to the
geological unit sampled by the large diameter auger drilling carried out further
north on the HL channel earlier in the year, although heavily diluted with
angular quartz rubble and clay.

Gravel from blocks 1 and 2 has been transported to the sample processing plant,
and processing of the gravel has been completed. Block 1 produced no diamonds
from 889 tonnes of gravel. Block 2 produced five diamonds weighing 1.11 carats
from 553 tonnes of gravel. The diamonds are believed to have been recovered
from a channel feature in the pit which was only partially sampled by block 2.
The diamonds recovered were all high quality gemstones. Individual stone sizes
were 0.15, 0.18, 0.22 and 0.26 carats. These results are encouraging as they
prove that the deposit is diamondiferous, although a full assessment will not be
possible until processing of blocks 3 and 4 has been completed.

As a result of very high rainfall in September and October, transporting of the
gravel from blocks 3 and 4 to the processing plant has been suspended pending
the erection of a mobile sampling plant in the Groen River Valley. The mobile
plant will be located close to the bulk sample pits and will allow gravel to be
processed more quickly. Planning for erection of the mobile sampling plant is
at an advanced stage, and it is anticipated that the plant will be in full
operation in Q1 2007.



GR2 Deposit

Evaluation of the other 12 deposits in the project area is continuing. The next
deposit selected for sampling is the GR2 deposit, which is one of four east-west
trending Proto Channel deposits in the project area. The GR2 deposit is an
attractive exploration target, as previous sampling of Proto Channel deposits in
a number of locations elsewhere in the Groen River Valley area has produced
grades of 7-13 carats per hundred tonnes, which would be economically viable
given the high value of Groen River Valley diamonds.



The GR2 deposit is located to the east of the HL deposit and is approximately 4
kilometres long and 150 metres wide. Overburden is estimated to vary between 10
and 20 metres. Drilling will be carried out in Q1 2007 to identity a suitable
location for bulk sampling pits, and sampling is expected to be completed in Q2
2007.


Philip Kenny, CEO of Firestone Diamonds, commented: 'We are pleased to have
recovered our first diamonds from this phase of sampling in the Groen River
Valley project area. With good results from past exploration on the Proto
Channel deposits in the area, we expect that the next phase of sampling on the
GR2 deposit will allow us to make significant progress towards establishing the
economic potential of the area.'


For further information:

Philip Kenny, Firestone Diamonds +44 20 8834 1028 / +44 7831 324 645

Leesa Peters/Laurence Read, Conduit PR +44 20 7429 6600 / +44 7979 955 923

Jamie Cumming, Bell Lawrie +44 141 314 8103 / +44 7768 044 620

www.firestonediamonds.com

Note: The information in this statement has been reviewed by Mr. Tim Wilkes,
BSc, MSAIMM, who is a qualified person for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note
for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies. Mr. Wilkes is Chief Operating Officer of
Firestone Diamonds plc and has over 25 years experience in diamond mining and
exploration. Mr. Wilkes is a member of the sub-committee for diamonds of the
South African Mineral Resource Committee (SAMREC).

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

Good news Andy. Perhaps a sp rally going into 2007 then.....

....but then its disappointing to see no sp movement at all yet this morning on the news.

Andy,

Thanks for the post. Who would have known there was an RNS from the SP. Agreed, queen 1, very disappointing! Also, seems there has been a lot of selling for no premium. However, excellent news from Groen, it is some time now since the optimism at the AGM. Hopefully, punters will wake up of the prospects of more to come. I also have a small holding in PDL and that has moved further today! Looking forward to a good 2007!