Stellar Diamonds gets Tongo go ahead

Stellar Diamonds, the West Africa-focused minerals company, has had an important licence renewed by the Sierra Leone government.

The licence covers the Tongo kimberlite project, which will host four diamondiferous dykes.

Stellar wants to double to inferred resource of 660,000 carats at the site.

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The award of the licence may also imply that an ongoing dispute with the Sierra Leone government over another licence at Kono may be close to resolution.

Chief Executive Karl Smithson said: "Tongo remains a priority project for Stellar Diamonds and, along with the Droujba kimberlite project in Guinea, we believe we are well placed to deliver value in the short term through increasing our inferred resource base of 3.1 million carats and moving these projects through to the pre-feasibility stage."

He added: "We continue to engage with the Ministry of Minerals Resources regarding the Kono licence dispute. The two Kono licences were initially granted in 2005 and the Company has to date invested over $19m in exploration and development at Kono. We are committed to ensuring the Company's rights at Kono are honoured as allowed for by the Mines and Minerals Act 2009."

Stellar Diamonds' share price had risen 19.6% by 10:18.

BS