Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Trustco Group Holdings Ltd. has announced the discovery of a 391.45-carat diamond through its investment in Meya Mining, where it holds a 19.5% stake in the Kono District of Sierra Leone.
The diamond was discovered on Tuesday, 20 August 2024, in the Kono District, an area known for its rich diamond deposits.
Meya Mining holds a 25-year exclusive diamond mining license in this region, which includes the Kamara Gbense and Tankoro chiefdoms.
This find is the second large diamond recovered from the Meya River kimberlite domain, the first of 16 kimberlite domains that Meya Mining is targeting within its licensed area.
The first discovery in this domain occurred in November 2017, when Meya recovered the 476-carat Meya Prosperity diamond during its initial bulk sampling program.
Deputy chief executive officer of Trustco, Quinton van Rooyen Jr., highlighted the significance of this discovery.
“Six of the world’s largest diamonds have been discovered in the area surrounding Meya Mining’s licensed zone. These notable diamonds include the 770-carat Woyie Diamond (1945), the 620-carat Sefadu Diamond (1970), the 969-carat Star of Sierra Leone (1973), the 709-carat Peace Diamond (2017), the 476-carat Meya Prosperity (2017), and now the 391-carat diamond recovered in 2024. Where the Meya Prosperity Diamond was once viewed as a unique occurrence, it is now clear that this region possesses an exceptional geology,” he said.
CEO of Meya Mining, Jan Joubert, emphasised the potential of the Meya River domain.
“Only four mines in the world infrequently recover these bigger than 500-carat diamonds. The fact that Meya has recovered two >500 carat Type IIa diamonds after treating only 84 195 tonnes of competent kimberlite from the Meya River domain suggests that there is a high probability of recovering more and possibly bigger diamonds once the mine reaches steady state production of 500 000 tonnes of kimberlite throughput per annum. Our priority now is to ensure that going forward we can recover these high-value stones intact,” Joubert said.
Sierra Leone’s minister of mines and mineral resources, Julius Mattai, expressed hope that this find would draw renewed global attention to Sierra Leone’s mineral resources.
“The discovery of the 391-carat diamond would once again alert the world to Sierra Leone’s mineral resource potential and engender a renewed interest in investing in the country’s mining sector. I am especially pleased with the transparent approach taken by the company to determine the market value of this stone and maximise the economic distribution to all key stakeholders,” he said.
The diamond recovery follows a recent valuation of Meya Mining’s site resources.
On 5 June 2024, Z Star Mineral Consultants, an independent firm, valued the Meya River domain at US$763 million.
This valuation accounts for less than 3% of Meya Mining’s licensed area and highlights the region’s potential.
The report noted that the average selling price of diamonds recovered from the Meya River domain at public auction is US$380 per carat, excluding stones of unusual size and quality.
