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Stornoway
Diamond Corporation (TSX:SWY
- News) is pleased to
announce that Roche ltd. Groupe-conseil
("Roche") has been awarded the contract for the preparation of the Renard Diamond Project Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment ("ESIA"). Roche ltee is an
international engineering-construction and environmental consultant firm
headquartered in Quebec City. The Roche contract will cover the Renard Project Impact Assessment and its Closure and
Rehabilitation Plan, with EnviroCree ltd. to be retained
as a sub-consultant to provide local expertise. The Renard
Diamond Project is a 50:50 joint venture with DIAQUEM INC., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of SOQUEM INC., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Societe generale de financement du Quebec ("SGF"), the Quebec
government's main industrial and financial holding company.
Matt Manson, President and CEO, commented: "The
award of this ESIA contract is an important milestone for the Renard Project. The Roche-EnviroCree
team is highly experienced in all environmental and social aspects of mine
development in the James Bay region of Quebec, and this study will comprise
an important component of the project's overall permitting process."
In March 2010, Stornoway
released the results of an updated Preliminary Assessment at Renard which outlined a base case estimate of pre-tax Net
Present Value of C$885 million (at an 8% discount rate) and an Internal Rate
of Return of 24.8%. This study showed the project to have the potential to
produce approximately 30 million carats of diamonds over a 25-year mine life
based on the currently defined National Instrument ("NI") 43-101
Indicated and Inferred Resources. The Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment is expected to be substantially completed by the third quarter of 2011.
About Stornoway Diamond
Corporation
Stornoway
Diamond Corporation is one of Canada's leading diamond exploration and
development companies, involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts. The
Company benefits from a diversified diamond property portfolio, a strong
financial platform and management and technical teams with experience in each
segment of the diamond "pipeline" from exploration to marketing.
About SGF
Societe
generale de financement
du Quebec (sgfqc.com), an industrial and financial holding company, has a
mission to carry out economic development projects, particularly in the
industrial sector, in cooperation with partners and in compliance with
accepted profitability requirements and with the economic development policy
of the Quebec government. As part of its new mandate, SGF is authorized by
the Quebec government to go beyond its traditional role as an equity investor
by offering complementary solutions, such as loans, debentures or preferred
shares.
SOQUEM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Societe generale de financement du Quebec, is to undertake exploration,
development and mining activities throughout the province of Quebec.
About the Renard Diamond
Project
The Renard Diamond Project
is located approximately 250km north of the community of Mistissini
in the James Bay region of North-Central Quebec, and falls within the
environmental protection regime of the James Bay and Northern Quebec
Agreement. Based on the March 2010 Preliminary Assessment, total capital
investment is currently estimated to be $511 million, with an average
operating expenditure of approximately $67 million per year and a workforce
of 300 people. Pending the completion of all applicable mine feasibility and
environmental and social impact assessments, the receipt of all regulatory
approvals, and a positive production decision by the project partners, Stornoway currently anticipates mine production to
commence by the end of 2013.
On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
Matt Manson, President and Chief Executive Officer
This document contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information and
these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking
statements" are made as of the date of this document and the Company
does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking
statements, except as required by law.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events
or future performance and reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding
future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect
to: (i) the amount of mineral resources and
potential mineral deposits; (ii) the amount of future production over any
period; (iii) net present value and internal rates of return of the proposed
mining operation; (iv) capital costs and operating costs; (v) mine expansion potential
and expected mine life; and (vi) expected time frames for completion of
permitting and regulatory approvals, completion of a Feasibility Study and
making a production decision. Any statements that express or involve
discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans,
projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often,
but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects",
"anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates",
"assumes", "intends", "strategy",
"goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating
that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or
be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions)
are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
All forward-looking statements are based on Stornoway's or its consultants' current beliefs as well
as various assumptions made by and information currently available to them.
Many of these assumptions are set forth in the news release and include: (i) estimates of net present value and internal rates of
return; (ii) estimates of potential production and duration of mine life;
(iii) estimated completion date for the Feasibility Study; (iv) required capital
investment and estimated workforce requirements; (v) receipt of regulatory
approvals on acceptable terms within commonly experienced time frames; (vi)
the assumption that the partners will make a production decision, and that
decision will be positive; (vii) anticipated timelines for the commencement
of mine production. Although management considers these assumptions to be
reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to
be incorrect. Many forward-looking statements are made assuming the
correctness of other forward looking statements, such as statements of net
present value and internal rate of return, which are based on most of the
other forward-looking statements and assumptions herein. The cost information
is also prepared using current values, but the time for incurring the costs
will be in the future and it is assumed costs will remain stable over the
relevant period.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and
risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking
statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future
experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the
actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions expressed
in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally
stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not
occur, including the assumption in many forward-looking statements that other
forward-looking statements will be correct, but specifically include, without
limitation, risks relating to variations in the grade, kimberlite
lithologies and country rock content within the
material identified as mineral resources from that predicted, variations in
rates of recovery and breakage; the greater uncertainty of potential mineral
deposits, developments in world diamond markets, slower increases in diamond
valuations than assumed, risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian
dollar and other currencies relative to the US dollar, increases in the costs
of proposed capital and operating expenditures, increases in financing costs
or adverse changes to the terms of available financing, if any, tax rates or
royalties being greater than assumed, results of exploration in areas of
potential expansion of resources, changes in development or mining plans due
to changes in other factors or exploration results of Stornoway
or its joint venture partners, changes in project parameters as plans
continue to be refined, risks relating to receipt of regulatory approvals or
settlement of an Impact and Benefits Agreement, the effects of competition in
the markets in which Stornoway operates,
operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in Stornoway's most recently filed Annual Information Form,
annual and interim MD&As, and Stornoway's
anticipation of and success in managing the foregoing risks. Stornoway cautions that the foregoing list of factors
that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our
forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Stornoway, investors and others should carefully consider
the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Stornoway does not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time
to time by Stornoway or on our behalf, except as
required by law.
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