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Gibb River Diamonds (ASX:GIB) secures Ellendale Diamond Mine leases

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ASX:GIB      MCAP $8.580M
24 December 2019 00:27 (AEDT)

Gibb River Diamonds’ (GIB) shares have skyrocketed roughly 80 per cent today after announcing it has acquired leases over the Ellendale Diamond Project area.

The diamond explorer was invited by Bill Johnston, the W.A Minister for Mines, to apply for various GIB nominated mining leases at Ellendale under an Expression of Interest (EOI) process run by the State Government.

The Ellendale project area is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.

These leases cover the most prospective ground at Ellendale. These include two previous hard rock mines at E4 and E9, and all of the previous extensive alluvial mines and prospects.

The GIB lease areas at Ellendale will be covered by three Mining Leases, two Exploration Licences, 11 Prospecting Licences and one Miscellaneous Licence.

The Ellendale Project is one of the world’s most notable diamond producers.

Historically, it has produced around 1.3 million carats which included the annual supply of over 50 per cent of the world’s Fancy Yellow diamonds. These were subject to a special marketing agreement between the former operator and Tiffany & Co.

This marks a significant opportunity for Gibb River Diamonds to develop the area and become Australia’s next diamond producer.

The company’s aim is to define and permit an area which can be brought into profitable production as quickly as possible.

To support this aim, GIB is targeting dredging mineralisation within the E4 and E9 pits, E9 Alluvials Target, A Channel Alluvials Target, Blina Alluvials Target and numerous others.

Following a 4-day trading halt, Gibb River Diamonds is up a massive 81.5 per cent, with shares trading for 4.9 cents each at market close.

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