Karelian Diamond Resources Plc (AIM: KDR)

About The Company

Karelian Diamond Resources Plc is a diamond exploration and resource company that is listed on the Alternative Investment Market or AIM which is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange. Karelian Diamond Resources has its operations executed out of Finland. The Diamond Exploration Company works with an objective to first discover and then develop the economic deposits of diamonds and in turn produce significant and positive returns for its shareholders.

The company has a high concentration on the development and progress in the Finnish Sector. This is primarily due to the high geological potential of the area. Similar aspects were also seen in the Russian sector of the company, where they did discover diamond deposits of best in class and superior quality.

Karelian Diamond Resources Plc has taken a major leap with a recent announcement to conduct a till exploration sample for diamond discovery. A till exploration sample is a unique and not so common event and is a part of the company’s exploration procedure.

Company History

Karelian Diamond Resources Plc is a recent company that dates back to the year 2005. The company was established post an acquisition from Conroy Diamonds and Gold Plc. Karelian Diamonds Limited was acquired from the Diamond and Gold Resource company along with a simultaneous acquisition of Nordic Diamonds Limited. Karelian acquired both the intellectual property as well as the confidential proprietary data from the parent companies for the Finland based Diamond Exploration Systems.

The company has a unique strategy and approach to meet its objectives. The exploration methodology the Company follows is highly cost effective in nature along with being focused. This strategy clearly proved to be on point when the company successfully acquired a mining permit over the diamond deposit of Lahtojoki. The tactic also resulted in the finding of a new kimberlite body in Riihivaara along with the delineation of one of Finland’s largest diamond pipe at the Seitaperä Project.

Karelian Diamond Resources' shares were listed on 1 September 2005 to commence trade on Alternative Investment Market. On the 7th of December in 2009 trading for the company also commenced on the Irish Stock Exchange's Enterprise Securities Market.

Overview of the Projects

Karelian Craton’s diamond prospectively forms the basis for Karelian Diamond Resources’ Finnish diamond projects. The Karelian Craton extends through north-eastern Russia and northern Finland. This is pretty much similar in size as compared to the diamond-rich Slave Lake Craton in the Canadian territory. The Russia based, highly qualitative and rich diamond deposits (Lomonosov and Grib Pipe) were also discovered in Craton. As per the analysis of the World’s largest Diamond Miner and Russian company- Alrosa, this diamond region is highly prospective and carries great potential for future growth.

As per Karelian, the Finland sectors also hold extensive future potentials and the company has been running vigorous processes to explore the Finnish prospects.

Let’s look at the major (3) Finland based exploration projects

The Lahtojoki Diamond Project

The Lahtojoki Diamond Project is based out of the highly favorable location of Kuopio, which falls in the Kaavi region. The Finnish location is blessed with pristine infrastructure, brilliant road connectivity, and power distribution. You can easily find local technical support and logistical support in the region.

The Lahtojoki Diamond Project can potentially be a highly profitable open pit mine for diamond exploration. This can be credited to the presence of highly favorable technical information along with the information sourced via bulk sampling and drilling. The construction of the Lahtojoki Diamond deposit, based in Europe, would be the first diamond mine outside the periphery of Russia.

The procurement of the Mining Permit throughout the Lahtojoki project area would permit the Karelian Diamond Resources to progress through the development of the project, subject to any necessary environmental assessments or specifications that may be required or verified.

Image Source: https://www.kareliandiamondresources.com/projects/other-targets

The Seitaperä Diamond Project

The Seitaperä Diamond Project is located towards the northern side of the Kumho Town at a reasonable distance of only 20 kilometers and can be easily accessed via road number 912. In the year 1993, through a vigorous till sampling process along with ground geophysics, the Malmikaivos discovered this prospectus range. Karelian Diamond Resources came into the picture in the year 2005. The exploration process started post they acquired a permit to delve into the Seitaperä target area.

The activities included in due course of exploration included pitting and geological mapping. The process also relied on ground geophysics along with additional endeavors of core drilling and caustic dissolution to extract diamonds. Petrology and geological modeling were also a part of the process.

The typical physical characteristics of the diamonds include a clear and transparent white color and there is a high likelihood of availability of large stone sizes. When remodeled, the Seitaperä Diamond Project pipe indicated a 140-meter depth, with a possibility of over eight million tons of potential ore.

Image Source: https://www.kareliandiamondresources.com/projects/seitaper%C3%A4

The Riihivaara Diamond Exploration Project

A new kimberlite reserve was discovered towards the South Eastern side of the Seitaperä Diamond Project in Kuhmo (located on the eastern side of Finland) by Karelian Diamond Resources. The discovery of this location was the first in its class in over a decade of explorations. An indication of a huge concentration of infill samples with traces of kimberlite was discovered during a follow up pitting in the location of the reserve. Post this excavation and discovery, five other pits showed significant signs of the presence of intersected kimberlite.

The pitting indicated that the kimberlite spread over an enormous distance of over 250 meters. The barrier is open in both directions and has a width of up to two meters.

Image Source: https://www.kareliandiamondresources.com/projects/riihivaara

Chairman’s Note

The Company’s Chairman, Professor Richard Conroy envisions Karelian Diamond Resources to persist its successful activities and milestones in development and explorations. He foresees the share price of the company to reflect the actual value the company holds and exhibits.