The first diamonds have been recovered from the mine plant commissioned by West African miner Stellar Diamonds at its Baoulé kimberlite pipe in Guinea, the company has reported in a press release.

The 100 tph plant was commissioned last month and the limited quantity of ore that was processed has yielded over 50 carats, including stones of 3.76cts and 1.37cts.

Stellar Diamonds Chief Executive Karl Smithson described the recovery as “a key milestone”, adding that the next objective is “to optimise the commissioning of the plant before increasing the volume throughput of kimberlite ore”.

The company plans to move in to full scale trial mining once plant optimisation is complete with the objective of processing at least 100,000 tonnes. This large scale bulk samplingis expected to establish the diamond grade and value of the kimberlite pipe.

Mining at the 5 hectare Baoulé pipe, where the company has a 75:25 joint venture agreement with local group SociétéTassiliman, has been underway since early September.

Stellar also holds the 3 million carat Droujba project in Guinea and is conducting feasibility studies on a 1.1 million carat Tongo Dyke-1 resource in Sierra Leone. It is working towards proper reinstatement of its Kono licences in Sierra Leone.