Corporate Highlights

  • Monetization of a non-core exploration asset with the sale of Stornoway’s 45% interest in the Buffalo Head Hills project in north-central Alberta for cash consideration of $15 million and common shares with a fair value of $1.9 million at closing.
  • Yves Harvey elected to the Board of Directors.
  • Early payback of $20 million debenture debt that was to mature on March 16, 2009 to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and Lorito Holdings Ltd. through the issuance of 24.4 million Stornoway shares valued at $0.90 per share (a value of $22 million), a premium to market.

Project Highlights

Renard

  • Commenced a pre-feasibility study, engaging AMEC Americas Ltd. and Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited to prepare a two-phase comprehensive study of potential mining scenarios. Phase one consisted of preliminary geological, geotechnical, environmental and hydro-geological assessment.  Phase two is currently ongoing and will consist of an independent NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation, a mining model, mine design, diamond plant design, capital and operating cost estimation, and financial modeling.
  • Completed diamond recovery from 2,449 tonnes of Renard 2, yielding 1,602 carats for a diamond content of 65 carats per hundred tonnes “cpht”, including a 15.5 carat stone.
  • Completed diamond recovery from 2099 tonnes of Renard 4, yielding 2722 carats, for a diamond content of 130 cpht, including a 5.9 carat stone.
  • Completed additional processing and diamond recovery from 185 tonnes of Renard 3, yielding 117.78 carats for a diamond content of 64 cpht, including a 2.5 carat stone. Additional results bring average to 132 cpht for Renard 3 bulk sample.
  • Completed processing and diamond recovery from 494 tonnes of the Lynx Dike, yielding 529 carats for a diamond content of 107 cpht, including a 21.5 carat stone.
  • Completed processing and diamond recovery from 31 tonnes of the Hibou Dike, yielding 40 carats for a diamond content of 126 cpht, including a 1.1 carat stone.
  • Conducted diamond valuations on the Renard’s 2, 3, 4, Lynx and Hibou diamond parcels obtaining the following values:
    • “base case” diamond price model for both Renard 2 and 3 of US$121 per carat
    • “base case” diamond price model for Renard 4 (Northern Complex Zone) of US$79 per carat.
    • “base case” diamond price model for the Lynx kimberlite dyke of US$66 per carat

Aviat

  • Increased position in the project to 90%, acquiring BHP Billiton’s 14.4% interest as well as their 10% of the diamond marketing rights, bringing Stornoway’s diamond marketing rights to 100%.
  • Discovery by drilling of the AV9 kimberlite pipe, west of the eastern sheet complex on the west side of the same major fault structure that hosts AV1. Included two separate 87 meter intersections.
  • Further exploratory drilling revealed the AV2 Lower and the AV67 bodies to be the same sheet-like unit (AV267) in the eastern sheet complex. Combined, the AV267 kimberlite dike averages 3m in thickness and is currently traceable along strike for over 2 km and down dip up to 500 m representing a significant potential diamond resource.
  • Diamond recovery from 20.6 tonnes of the AV267 yielded 33.4 carats for a diamond content of 162 cpht including a 3.64 carat stone.
  • Diamond recovery from 48.9 tonnes of the AV1 kimberlite pipe yielded 43.9 carats for a diamond content of 89 cpht.
  • Diamond recovery from 6.2 tonnes of the AV2 Upper kimberlite dike yielded 5.0 carats for a diamond content of 80 cpht.
  • Diamond recovery from 2.0 tonnes of the AV8 Upper kimberlite dike yielded 1.6 carats for a diamond content of 82 cpht.
  • AV267 conceptual resource study and a bulk sample of between 150 to 200 tonnes is underway at time of writing.

Churchill

  • Tailings audits of 2006 mini-bulk sampling of the Notch, Jigsaw, Kahuna, PST 003 and Notch North led to increases in diamond content for each tested dike to 82 cpht, 49 cpht, 111 cpht, 218 cpht, and 80 cpht respectively.
  • Diamond recovery from 356 tonnes of the Kahuna kimberlite dike collected in spring 2007 yielded 370.2 carats for a diamond content of 104 cpht, including a 5.4 carat diamond.
  • Exploratory drilling of the Kahuna kimberlite over a 4.5 km strike length indicated it is a vertical dike with an average width of 2.5 m. Subsequent caustic fusion analysis of the intercepts suggested homogenous microdiamond contents throughout the body.
  • Discovered four additional narrow (between 10-50 cm) kimberlite dikes with high microdiamond populations (up to 139 diamonds per kilogram), the source for three outstanding indicator mineral trains in the Sedna Corridor.
  • 2007 till sampling program suggested 35 unsourced high interest indicator mineral dispersions to be followed up for 2008.  Highest count sample returned 136 pyrope garnets from 44% of the sorted concentrate.

Qilalugaq

  • Discovered four new kimberlites by prospecting (Naujaat 3 through Naujaat 6, inclusive), all of which came back diamondiferous, Naujaat 4 signicantly so, warranting further sampling.
  • DMS processing of 20.3 tonnes of the A28 (Q1) pipe yielded 6.1 carats for a diamond content 30 cpht, including a 0.79 carat stone that was fractured during processing.
  • Completed ground geophysics over 19 grids to define targets for future drilling.
  • Collected over 800 till samples for indicator mineral processing.