Resource World Magazine

18 www.resourceworld.com a u g u s t / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6 PANTHER CARRIERS Suited for your industry. Innovative chassis design provides easy implement installation Improved ROPS certification allows optimal payload State-of-the-art cab design provides comfort and visibility CLEAN MOTION: the first Stage IV/Tier 4 Final carrier line-up in the industry Under carriage unit also available The PANTHER crawler carrier from PRINOTH treads softly while carrying big payloads. Engineered for increased efficiency, the PANTHER provides fast, uninterrupted travel, optimal track performance, operator safety and reduced maintenance. All this and the ability to customize your vehicle according to your job's needs. PRINOTH Ltd - North America www.prinoth.com Tel. +1 450 776 3683 Meet the PRINOTH team and learn more about the PANTHER carrier at MINExpo, Las Vegas, USA from September 26 to 28, 2016/Stand #27301, South Hall. Stornoway Diamond building Québec's first diamond mine Stornoway Diamond Corp. [SWY-TSX] is about to bring on stream its 100%- owned Renard diamond mine located in the James Bay region, north-central Québec. Pre-operational verification at Renard has been completed and all prin- cipal plant equipment and control systems had been installed and tested, with handovers from construction to operations staff. Completion costs are estimated at $775 million, which compares with $811 million initially planned. Stornoway had re-baselined completion estimates in February because the build rate was surpassing expectations, President and CEO, Matt Manson, told Resource World, adding the handover announced on June 22 was eight weeks ahead of the new schedule. "We've been firing on all cylinders," he said. "We expect to have ore in the plant shortly." The absence of other mine construction elsewhere in eastern Canada has worked to Stornoway's advantage, enabling it to have full call on specialists and A-team construction personnel, and to obtain supplies and services at competitive prices without long lead times. "For example, there was an 18-month lead time for Caterpillar mining equipment when we did our initial feasibility study for the project in 2011," Manson said. "That lead time is now matter of a few weeks." Full year (FY) production for 2016 is predicted at 220,000 carats with ramp up and full commercial production to be reached by end-December. Output for FY 2017 is estimated at 1.71 million carats, with sales at 1.36 million carats. The annual processing rate is expected to stand between 2.2 million and 2.5 million tonnes by 2018. Renard has 22.3 million reserve carats effective March 30, while the life-of- mine is estimated at 14 years. Gross revenue is estimated at $5.57 billion and net revenue at $4.55 billion. The mine plan envisages a combined open pit and underground operation, with both output and revenues peaking between 2023 and 2026. The company has a market capitalization of $756 million effective June 14. Fully diluted share ownership comprises 50.2% project finance sponsors, 38.5% institutional investors and 11.3 retail and insiders. The balance sheet effective June 14 stood at $219 million, with total debt at $255 million, while undrawn financing commitments were $109 million, excluding a $48 million cost overrun facility. The company strives to hire locally, with a notable First Nation composition. Investissement Québec, the provincial government's sovereign wealth fund, is a 28% shareholder in Stornoway and an important lender. "It's been nothing but a positive relationship for us," Manson said. Stornoway also maintains an exploration team, with recent drilling conducted at its wholly-owned Adamantin diamond project 100 km south of Renard. The project has 11 distinct kimberlite bodies identified so far, with intersections of up to 13.7 m of undiluted kimberlite reported. Stornoway noted that 18 out of 78 holes returned kimberlite on 72 geophysical targets on May 5. "We think there's more to be found and it's exciting, although it's still early days and we don't have any diamond data back yet on these bodies," Manson said. "Diamond exploration can be a tough game but we want be really good explorers, developers and operators of diamond projects. That's the future of the company." n QuébEC

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