Location and Access
The Palmietfontein Project, which covers 81 ha of the Palmietfontein farm, is centred on a 12.1ha diamondiferous kimberlite pipe discovered in 1925 on the farm Palmietfontein 208JP which covers 3,260.8ha in the district of Mankwe in the North West Province of South Africa. The farm is about 60km NNW of the “platinum” mining town of Rustenburg and 130km WNW of the city of Pretoria.
The Palmietfontein pipe has demonstrated the ability to deliver large carat stones characteristically of between 5 to +220 carats and a broader micro diamond distribution within the pipe, with gem quality stones recovered in bulk sampling and trenching, and diamond chips recovered from rotary percussion drilling.
Access to the Palmietfontein farm, and more particularly to the site of the kimberlite pipe, is straightforward.
There is an excellent network of roads in the area as well as very good general infrastructure including electric power, Mining Expertise and excellent engineering facilities readily available. The opportunity to realise value from the development of this asset is significant.
Description
1. A Rare Undeveloped Diamondiferous Pipe: Companies spend decades in search of diamond hosting Kimberlite pipes. The Palmietfontein pipe is one such
untested diamond-bearing pipe.
2. Demonstrated Potential to Produce Large Gem Quality Stones:
a. The Palmietfontein pipe is relatively low grade at 1.77 cpht. It is, however, the fourth largest Kimberlite pipe discovered in South Africa to date.
b. The Palmietfontein pipe has demonstrated an ability to produce large carat, high-quality stones from relatively small volumes of bulk sample material, in addition to the background distribution of smaller stones.
c. A two-stage sampling program recommenced from 1972 and concluded in 1983.
Stage-1 1975-1976 An intensive prospecting drilling program resulted in redefining the outline of the pipe and 950 tons of “yellow ground” was recovered and processed and the diamond grade estimated.
Stage-2 1979-1982 The excavation of a 9 m trench from SE-NW across the entire pipe took place. By the end of 1979, approximately 40,000 tons of kimberlite had been processed and heavy mineral concentrate from 36,000 tons was sorted. The underlying yellow ground was separated into 20 discrete samples which totalled 40,000 tons. Individual samples ranged from 1,000 - 3,000 tons dry.
The carat grade in Stage 2 (1981) was assessed to be 56% higher than in Stage 1, while the average stone size was assessed to be 35% larger.
3. Strong Indications of Gem Quality Stones:
a. The average diamond size of Palmietfontein diamonds has been estimated from previous work to be
0.77 carats.
b. A large number of Palmietfontein stones that were classified as “fragments” is suggestive that large
diamonds (20 carats) will be a feature of the Palmietfontein pipe.
c. Descriptions of Palmietfontein stone quality included in documentation are reported to have been
provided by experts in diamond valuation
Geology
Due to the close proximity of Rustenburg to the proposed site the specific climatic data of South African weather service stations in Rustenburg were subsequently used to describe the climate of the proposed area.
a. The summer months (October to April) in Rustenburg are hot with average maximum temperatures reaching 30° C and average minimum temperatures not dropping below 12° C (Gondwana, 2011).
b. The winter months (May to September) in Rustenburg are relatively warm during the day with average maximum temperatures of 27° C. The nights do get cold with the average minimum temperatures dropping to just above freezing point (3°C).
c. The mean annual precipitation in Rustenburg is approximately 700 mm.
d. The wind rose to indicate the prevailing wind direction recorded for the Rustenburg region is south-west for 20% of the time followed by north-east for approximately 8 % of the time. It also indicates that the wind speeds are considered calm at speeds of 1-2 m/s for 20.9 % of the time.
Additional Information
Surrounding areas near the Project
a. The Farm Palmietfontein 208JP is located on the south-western foot of the Pilanesberg Mountains. The Pilanesberg is a remnant volcano forming an alkaline ring complex. This unique ring dyke is one of the best preserved extinct volcanic landforms in the world.
b. The Pilanesberg National Park was established in 1979 in and around this extinct volcano and covers a surface area of 500km². It now contains examples of most southern African mammals and some 300 bird species.
c. Sun City, the brainchild of a businessman, Sol Kerzner, was built on the Pilanesberg, featuring a casino, holiday resort and world-class golf course.
d. There are a number of rural villages located to the west of Pilanesberg. These include Mahobieskraal located to the south of the farm, Witrandjie Village located to the west and Moalogane bordering the farm to the north.