West Africa-focused Stellar Diamonds' (LON:STEL) shares rose after it confirmed further high diamond grades had been returned from the bulk sampling programme under way at its 1.1 million carat Tongo dyke kimberlite project in Sierra Leone.

Highlights included:

- Initial sample processing yielded 151 carats from 141t of kimberlite for a grade of 107cpht with further results expected approximately every four weeks

- Anticipated that diamond grade will increase as further diamonds are recovered following re-processing

- Outstanding quality of diamonds classified as 86% gem quality with several stones greater than 1 carat in size

- Bulk sampling on-going with 772 tonnes collected to date as part of the Dyke-1 mining DFS

- Objective to recover a minimum 1,000 carat parcel for diamond grade and value confirmation

- Previous results established a grade of 120cpht at US$248 per carat from a 1,050 carat parcel

- Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") expected to be completed in 2014, culminating in a production decision at Tongo Dyke-1

I'm in ..worth a punt... let's see what happens!

I've had this on my watch list for a few weeks now skyhigh, as you say it's surely worth a punt.

Daniel Stewart have a 24p target price on this.

edit previous post - their target is 27p !

DS target may be a bit far fetched but STEL does have much further to rise (imo)

SP doing nicely today (since I create thread in fact!, spooky)

Looking at the chart, I would think that the Northland Capital Partners target price of 4.3p to 5.5p looks far more realistic in the short term. 27p seems a bit off the wall right now. :-)

skyhigh - you should do spooky more often! I just happened to be looking at one or two penny tiddlers to have a speculative punt on this morning and noticed you has started this thread. I was a bit slow off the mark, but managed to get in at 1.8p - so far so good and looking forward to the next update.

Welcome aboard db4.
Still a good price to get in at.. (i'm in at 1.55p from last week. I think we'll both do well from this one...must be a potential 4 or 5 bag from here in the short term (imho) >>> GL

Exercise of Warrants
RNS
RNS Number : 9292A
Stellar Diamonds PLC
26 February 2014















NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISSEMINATION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES.



26 February 2014



AIM: STEL

Stellar Diamonds plc

("Stellar" or the "Company")



Exercise of Warrants



Stellar Diamonds plc, the London listed (AIM: STEL) diamond development company focused on West Africa, is pleased to announce it has raised £314,914 following the exercise of 28,628,545 warrants at a price of 1.1p each by existing investors Foradex Invest SRL ("Foradex") and Hottinger (Adam & Co.) ("Hottinger"). The Company is pleased to see the continued support of large shareholders, with the funds being used to further progress its flagship 1.1 million carat resource Tongo Dyke-1 kimberlite project in Sierra Leone which is currently undergoing a definitive feasibility study.



Stellar Diamonds Chief Executive Karl Smithson commented, "The exercise of these warrants underpins the supportive nature of our major shareholders and the prospectively of our project portfolio, particularly Tongo where recent results from bulk sampling taken for the DFS were outstanding, and confirmed the continued high grade nature of the 1.1 million carat resource. We are at an exciting juncture in the development of our company as we advance Tongo towards production and look forward to providing regular updates on the progress being made."



Stellar has issued 28,628,545 new ordinary shares of 1p each (the "New Ordinary Shares") following the exercise of warrants. The warrants were issued as part of the subscription announced on 17 December 2013. Application has been made for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will occur on or around 3 March 2014. The New Ordinary Shares will, when admitted, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares.

skyhigh - thanks for the welcome, here and on the other board! :-)

Stellar Diamonds confident of expanding resource base to 7.5mln carats this year
By Jeremy Naylor February 27 2014, 12:38pm


Karl Smithson, chief executive of Stellar Diamonds, tells Proactiveinvestors he is confident of getting the resource base to the 'seven-and-a-half million carat mark' this year. At current diamond pricing that adds up to US$1bn of 'target value', he added.

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk

Sparkling prospect: Stellar Diamonds eyes big boost to resource base
By Ian Lyall March 03 2014, 11:13am

The 67% spike in Stellar Diamonds’ (LON:STEL) share price in the year to date has alerted investors to its presence.

However, its current market value almost certainly fails to recognise the explorer’s huge potential.

The plan for the current year is simple: produce a definitive feasibility study for the Tongo Project in Sierra Leone, while compiling a maiden resource for Baoule in Guinea.

In doing this it hopes to boost its resource base to 7.5mlm carats, which at current diamond prices adds up to a contained value of just over US$1bn.

If it hits those milestones then expect a re-rating of the stock, although you could see a decent bump if the company can resolve its long-running wrangle over the ownership of the Kono Project in Sierra Leone.

Stellar chief executive Karl Smithson told Proactive Investors: “If we do get that back people will look at Sierra Leone and us a little bit differently in politically de-risking our assets. And of course we will have this great project [Kono] back as well.”

However, the predictable news flow will come from Tongo and the exploration work on Baoule.

Tongo is the most advanced of the portfolio and, according to Smithson, geologically de-risked after bulk sampling programme that has helped compile a 1.1mln carat resource.

A second bulk sample is underway to support the definitive feasibility study due out later this year with the aim of recovering a minimum of 1,000 carats.

Previous results established a grade of 120 carats per hundred tonnes at US$248 per carat; 86% of the stones were of gem quality.

Eye-catching also are the costs for developing the project, which, at US$16mln over two years, are cheap for any mining project, particularly an underground development.

It is also worth pointing out that the current resource has been compiled from the first of four kimberlite dykes.

Samples have been taken from dykes two and three, which indicate potential grades of 140 and 185 carats per hundred tonnes respectively.

A larger bulk sample on Dyke-Four points to a grade of around 110 carats per hundred tonnes and a value of US$140 a carat.

Last year’s scoping study underlined the potential of Dyke-One as it pointed to life of mine cash flows of US$169mln, although this is based on recovering just 638,000 carats from the potential 1.05mln.

If we take the higher figure, then cash flows rise to US$412mln, the net present value is US$53.1mln and the internal rate of return of is 32%.

Of course there will be more granularity on the economics when the DFS is published in the second half of the year.

Key to increasing the resource estimate will be the development of Baoule, a large diamondiferous pipe in the Aredor region of Guinea, a renowned diamond district.

There is a wealth of information on the alluvial diamonds from the area, which, at US$400 a carat, are of the very highest quality.

The suspicion is that the Baoulé kimberlite may be one of the sources for these stones.

The project was explored in the early to mid noughties by Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and bulk sampling was carried out by the Trivalence Mining Corp, which means there is plenty of historic data, which Stellar has access to.

Stellar is targeting an initial 22mln-tonne resource that could be mined as an open pit down to 300 metres.

The estimated grade is 13-40 carats per hundred tonnes though even at that lower figure, this gives a resource of 3mln carats.

The value of the stones is put very conservatively at US$200 a carat, although the quality of the alluvial diamonds found in the area suggests this number might rise.

The group will earn 75% of Baoule by spending US$5mln, which will be a combination of cash and assets moved into the joint-venture company.

The plan would be to move equipment currently at the company’s Droujba project 60 kilometres away, which would allow Stellar to begin bulk sampling.

This and the planned 10,000 metre drill programme would allow the group to compile a maiden resource for Baoulé by the year-end targeting 3mln carats.

Smithson said: “This is a different beast to Tongo – it is going to be a large open-pit.”

As well as Tongo, Baoulé and Kono, the group owns the3 million carat Droujb project, a kimberlite pipe, and Mandala, an alluvial discovery. Both are in Guinea and both could restart production when the prices of rough diamonds improve.

Currently the resource base stands at just under 4mln carats. Mentioned earlier, the group is targeting an initial resource of 3mln carats for Baoule, which, with an additional 500,000 carats for Tongo would give a total of just under 7.5mln carats, or a contained value of US$1.1bn.

“We have kept our heads down for the last couple of years,” Smithson says of the work it has taken to get to this stage.

“Like most junior resource stocks we have taken a bit of a beating over the last few years. But we now see a general improvement in sentiment towards the small-caps and diamond companies in particular, particularly those with production or near production assets like Stellar.”

Next set of drilling results due out very soon.

Article published earlier this week:

SMALL CAPS FOCUS: Stellar year ahead for diamonds explorer as it looks to boost its resource base

By Ian Lyall, Proactive Investors

PUBLISHED:14:55, 10 March 2014| UPDATED:15:27

The 93 per cent spike in Stellar Diamonds’ share price in the year to date has alerted investors to its presence. However, its current market value almost certainly fails to recognise the explorer’s huge potential, according to chief executive Karl Smithson.

The plan for the current year is simple: produce a definitive feasibility study for the Tongo Project in Sierra Leone, while compiling a maiden resource for Baoule in Guinea.


In doing this it hopes to boost its resource base to 7.5million carats, which at current diamond prices adds up to a contained value of just over US$1billion.

If it hits those milestones then expect a further re-rating of the stock, although you could see a decent bump if the company can resolve its long-running wrangle over the ownership of the Kono Project in Sierra Leone.

Smithson told Proactive Investors: ‘If we do get that back people will look at Sierra Leone and us a little bit differently in politically de-risking our assets. And of course we will have this great project [Kono] back as well.’





However, the predictable news flow will come from Tongo and the exploration work on Baoule. Tongo is the most advanced of the portfolio and, according to Smithson, geologically de-risked after bulk sampling programme that has helped compile a 1.1million carat resource.

A second bulk sample is underway to support the definitive feasibility study due out later this year with the aim of recovering a minimum of 1,000 carats. Previous results established a grade of 120 carats per hundred tonnes at US$248 per carat; 86 per cent of the stones were of gem quality.


Eye-catching also are the costs for developing the project, which, at US$16million over two years, are cheap for any mining project, particularly an underground development. It is also worth pointing out that the current resource has been compiled from the first of four kimberlite dykes.






Samples have been taken from dykes two and three, which indicate potential grades of 140 and 185 carats per hundred tonnes respectively. A larger bulk sample on Dyke Four points to a grade of around 110 carats per hundred tonnes and a value of US$140 a carat.


Last year’s scoping study underlined the potential of Dyke One as it pointed to life of mine cash flows of US$169million, although this is based on recovering just 638,000 carats from the potential 1.05million.


If we take the higher figure, then cash flows rise to US$412million, the net present value is US$53.1million and the internal rate of return of is 32 per cent.


Of course there will be more granularity on the economics when the DFS is published in the second half of the year. Key to increasing the resource estimate will be the development of Baoule, a large diamondiferous pipe in the Aredor region of Guinea, a renowned diamond district.


There is a wealth of information on the alluvial diamonds from the area, which, at US$400 a carat, are of the very highest quality. The suspicion is that the Baoulé kimberlite may be one of the sources for these stones.


The project was explored in the early to mid noughties by Rio Tinto and bulk sampling was carried out by the Trivalence Mining Corp, which means there is plenty of historic data, which Stellar has access to.


Stellar is targeting an initial 22million-tonne resource that could be mined as an open pit down to 300 metres. The estimated grade is 13-40 carats per hundred tonnes though even at that lower figure, this gives a resource of 3million carats.

The value of the stones is put very conservatively at US$200 a carat, although the quality of the alluvial diamonds found in the area suggests this number might rise. This would get the group to the magic US$1billion of value in the ground – not bad for a company currently worth US$16.5million.


‘We have kept our heads down for the last couple of years,’ Smithson says of the work it has taken to get to this stage.

‘Like most junior resource stocks we have taken a bit of a beating over the last few years.

‘But we now see a general improvement in sentiment towards the small-caps and diamond companies in particular, particularly those with production or near production assets like Stellar.’

Ian Lyall writes for Proactive Investors. For more on the market's most exciting growth stocks, go to proactiveinvestors.co.uk

The late afternoon jump in the share price would suggest a leak of the drilling results due out any day.

Looking good!

I was thinking about perhaps buying into boohoo today, but decided to have a little top-up here on the dip instead !

Something strange going on with these shares.

Market makers show 1.85 bid 1.95 offer on screen

Just done a dummy deal

Got quoted 1.93p to sell 70000 instead of 1.85p

Got quoted 1.92p to buy 70000 instead of 1.95p

Note I get a better deal by selling them than buying them!!!

How does that work?

Great rns this morning

Continued High Grade and Diamond Quality at Tongo
RNS
RNS Number : 5200C
Stellar Diamonds PLC
18 March 2014















NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISSEMINATION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES.



18 March 2014



AIM: STEL

Stellar Diamonds plc

("Stellar" or the "Company")



Continued High Grade and Diamond Quality at Tongo Project, Sierra Leone



Stellar Diamonds plc, the London listed (AIM: STEL) diamond development company focused on West Africa, is pleased to announce that bulk sampling at its 1.1 million carat resource Tongo kimberlite dyke project in Sierra Leone continues to yield high grades and exceptional quality diamonds.



Highlights:



· Continual high grade results from bulk sampling programme at Dyke-1 of Tongo Project as part of Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS')

· Consistent outstanding gem quality diamonds recovered with stones up to 6.7 carats in size

· Processing to date has yielded 551.6 carats at an average grade of 126.3cpht

· Grade anticipated to increase as further diamonds are recovered from re-processing

· Objective to recover a minimum 1,000 carat parcel for diamond grade and value confirmation

· Previous results established a grade of 120cpht at a modelled value of US$248 per carat

· DFS on Dyke-1 targeted to be completed by YE 2014, with production decision to follow



Stellar Diamonds Chief Executive Karl Smithson commented, "The results from the on-going bulk sampling programme are excellent and continue to underscore the high grade nature of the Tongo Dyke-1 kimberlite. The presence of larger gem stones up to 6.7 carats in size bodes well for the diamond valuation, which will be undertaken as part of the definitive feasibility study that is on track for delivery towards the end of 2014. Our bulk sampling programme will continue with the objective of recovering a parcel of at least 1,000 carats for diamond grade and value modelling on the current 1.1 million carat JORC compliant resource, calculated on one of four diamondiferous dykes on the project."

UPDATE - Stellar shares up 9%, Tongo programme continues to unearth 'exceptional' stones
By Ian Lyall

March 18 2014, 11:15am



Shares in Stellar Diamonds (LON:STEL) rose 9% after it said it continued to recover high grades and ‘exceptional’ quality stones from its Tongo kimberlite dyke project in Sierra Leone.

So far the group has recovered 551.6 carats from its bulk sampling programme at an average grade of 126.3 carats per hundred tonnes, which is higher than the estimated grade 120 carats per hundred tonnes.

Not just that, a number of ‘outstanding’ gem quality diamonds have been uncovered with stones up to 6.7 carats in size.

Stellar said it anticipates the grade will increase as further diamonds are recovered from re-processing.

The bulk sampling of the 1.1mln carat Tongo dyke is taking place as part of the definitive feasibility study, which is on track for completion by the end of this year.

Chief executive Karl Smithson said: “The results from the on-going bulk sampling programme are excellent and continue to underscore the high grade nature of the Tongo Dyke-1 kimberlite.

“The presence of larger gem stones up to 6.7 carats in size bodes well for the diamond valuation, which will be undertaken as part of the definitive feasibility study that is on track for delivery towards the end of 2014.

“Our bulk sampling programme will continue with the objective of recovering a parcel of at least 1,000 carats for diamond grade and value modelling on the current 1.1 million carat JORC compliant resource, calculated on one of four diamondiferous dykes on the project.”

At 11.15pm, the stock, up almost 100% in the year to date, rose 0.17p to 2.07p. Broker Daniel Stewart holds a price target of 5p, suggesting there is plenty of headroom for growth.