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Cream
Minerals Ltd. (CMA TSX-V) (Cream or the Company) is pleased to report
that the first three bulk samples taken under the Sewa River Exploration
Licence sampling program successfully confirmed estimates of Diamond grades
as reported by the Geological Survey of Sierra Leone. Three bulk samples of approximately 6
cubic meters of diamondiferous alluvial products yielded ten (10) individual
diamonds whose total weight averaged 0.55 carats per cubic meter. This grade is comparable to historical
estimates of Hall (1966) for the mineral potential of this Licence EPL
1/94.
The ten individual stones recovered included seven
good clarity white and pale gold coloured stones and three coated
stones. They were hand screened down
to a 1.5 mm mesh and were weighed with a high precision portable Diamond
balance under still air conditions at the field camp. They varied in weight from 0.54 carats to
0.054 carats. The weighing accuracy
of the balance is indicated to be within 0.002 grams (0.01 carats). Continuing sampling with two airlift
dredges and a state of the art suction dredge has returned further samples
for processing.
The samples were taken from the active sediments
of the Sewa River, which is more than 500 meters wide with large islands
formed down stream of several of the diabase dykes that cross the river at
right angles to its course. Water
levels in the Sewa were exceptionally low this year, exposing nine of these
dykes in sand bars in the downstream part of the 10-kilometer stretch of the
River covered by this exploration licence.
Several dykes are also known on the upstream sector of this licence
from a traverse by inflatable boat during this work. The dykes act as giant natural riffles
across the full width of the riverbed, causing the concentration of heavy
minerals such as diamonds and gold.
Minerals associated with the
diamonds include lilac coloured garnets, possibly of the pyrope range that
are an indicator mineral for kimberlitic rocks, collanda (a local name for
ilmenite and iron oxide gravel fragments with similar density to the target
diamonds) and some fine grained flake gold. Close to the downstream boundary of the licence, artesanal
miners were recovering sufficient gold to justify their hand mining
efforts. A request is being made to
the Mines Department to include gold in the permitted minerals of the Diamond
exploration licence.
The above results are from the first bulk samples
taken on the Sewa licence since the earlier private acquisition of the
licence in 1994. Despite a slow start
due to remoteness and lack of infrastructure, Cream management is very
encouraged by these results due to their correlation with historic results
and the size of the property. Plans
are to expand fieldwork significantly after the rainy season.
Recent sales of alluvial diamonds in Sierra Leone
(Sierra Leone Diamond Company 3rd April 2007) returned US$440.91
per carat. Sierra Leone Mines
Department figures indicate an average price of $300 per carat for all
national production. These figures
would vary depending on the size and quality of stones recovered in a
full-scale alluvial mining operation.
Any estimates of in-situ values in the absence of cost factors
supported by a feasibility study (or at least an economic analysis with the
usual cautions) would be inappropriate.
Cream holds an undivided 70% interest in two
exploration licences in Sierra Leone, West Africa, under the terms of an
agreement dated February 25, 2005, between Cream and Casierra Development
Fund Inc. and its affiliate company, Casierra Diamond Corporation.
A Technical Report, compliant with NI 43-101, on Alluvial Diamond
Properties EPL 1/94 and EPL 5/94 Sierra Leone dated May 12, 2005, was written
for Cream Minerals Ltd. by Charles K. Ikona, P.Eng. On January 18, 2006, an amended report by Mr. Ikona dated
November 15, 2005 was filed on Sedar.
The revision updated the property descriptions in order to coincide
with the upgrade by the government of Sierra Leone of the offshore licence
5/94 from an Exclusive Prospecting Licence designation to a full
Exploration Licence designation.
In 2005, Banka drilling (manually operated churn drill) indicated
that the depth of the gravels encountered during the drilling program varied
between 0.0 and 7.0 meters averaging some 3 meters. This is substantially greater than the average gravel depth of
18 inches (less than 0.5 meters) estimated by Hall (1966), (P.K. Hall, ARSM, BSc,
AMIMM), indicating
that Hall may have underestimated the volume of gravels on the licence. Hall, based on his extensive study of the
Sewa River placers and very minor sampling, presents an estimate for this
section of the river contained within EPL 1/94. He suggests 2,900,000 cubic yards at 0.4 carats/yard for the
channel gravels and 1,500,000 cubic yards at 0.4 carats/yard for the flats
and low terraces. Also, Mahdi (1994)
noted recovery of a 2.92-carat Diamond from another part of the licence (see
Cream website for more information).
Note: These are historical reserve estimates only and neither of these
estimates conforms to guidelines under NI 43-101, as at present there are no
known reserves or resources contained on either licence. Furthermore, no qualified person has done
sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral
resources, the Company is not treating the historical estimate as current
mineral resource and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.
Mr. Ben Ainsworth, P.Eng.,BC, is Operations
Manager and the Qualified Person responsible for preparing this news release
for Cream Minerals Ltd.
For more information about Cream Minerals property
interests, live interviews and a one minute snapshot presentation, please
visit Creams website www.creamminerals.com.
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