Name of the Project
Star-Orion South diamond project.

Location
The Fort à la Corne diamond district of central Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Star Diamond Corp in joint venture with Rio Tinto.

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has determined that an estimated 66-million carats of diamonds could be recovered from a surface mine over a 34-year life-of-mine.

The PEA envisages the development of two openpits, initially Orion South, followed by Star, using conventional openpit methods.

Conventional hydraulic excavators and haul trucks create a starting “key” for three bucket wheel excavators to remove the sand and clay overburden from the kimberlite. Conveyor belts will transfer the sand and clay from the excavators to the nearby overburden waste area. The exposed kimberlite will be lightly blasted and conventional hydraulic shovels will load the rock into trucks, which will transfer the rock to an in-pit feeder. The kimberlite will be delivered to the processing plant using a conveyor belt.

The processing facility will have the capacity to process 45 000 t/d of kimberlite using autogenous milling, followed by screening, X-ray transmission diamond recovery and dense-media separation of heavy mineral concentrate.

The recovery section will use X-ray technology, with grease as the scavenging technology to recover the low-luminescence diamonds. The diamonds will be sorted into parcels in the on-site sorting facility.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 7% discount rate, of $2-billion and an internal rate of return of 19%, with a payback of 3.5 years after the start of construction.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital expenditure is estimated $1.41-billion.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Rio Tinto has exercised its voting power to place the Star-Orion South diamond project on care and maintenance.

Star Diamond has said that, subject to fulfilling its existing obligations, Rio Tinto will not commit additional capital to the project during 2022 beyond what is necessary for care and maintenance.  

Rio Tinto also advised Star Diamond during the JV management committee meeting, held on July 5, of its intention to conduct a near-term review of its alternatives regarding the project, including its potential exit.

“The board of directors of Star Diamond is disappointed by these decisions. Star Diamond intends to work with Rio Tinto in assessing alternatives regarding the project,” Star Diamond has said.

Star Diamond, however, remains pleased with the results of the comprehensive studies and bulk sampling programme that have been completed to date at the project.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SGS Canada, DRA Americas and ENGCOMP Engineering and Computing Professionals (PEA).

Contact Details for Project Information
Star Diamond Corp, tel +1 306 664 2202 or email stardiamondcorp@stardiamondcorp.com.