POZ Minerals has announced that it will participate in the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process in a bid to secure rights over the former Ellendale Diamond Mine in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia as it aims to expand its diamond exploration and mining activity in that country.

The Blina Diamond Project under POZ surrounds the Ellendale Diamond Mine area and the Company says that “the joining of these two diamond projects under common ownership would create significant commercial advantages and synergies”.

While announcing the intention to bid for the mine, POZ said that the “acquisition of the Ellendale Diamond Mine lease would be transformative for POZ both technically and corporately”.

Company directors will visit the mine site later this month with government officials and any other interested parties to assess the potential of the area.

POZ said that it has already negotiated a Mining Agreement with the local Bunuba Traditional Owners over the adjacent Blina Project which has resulted in granted mining leases and is very well placed to do the same for Ellendale.

The Ellendale Project was mined from 2002 to 2015 and previously produced about half of the world's highly valued fancy yellow diamonds. The mine included US jeweller Tiffany & Co as a major client.

The POZ Blina Diamond Project consists of four granted mining leases and various exploration leases within an area of 436 sq km. A diamond bearing alluvial palaeochannel extends over some 40 km of the POZ project area. The largest diamond recovered to date from here weighed 8.43 carats. Stones larger than two carats have been fairly common and a significant number have been Fancy Yellows.

The State Government is expected to select a company for the Ellendale lease from among the EOI submissions early in 2019.

Pic caption: The Ellendale Diamond Mine

Pic courtesy: POZ Minerals