ASX AND MEDIA RELEASEWednesday 13th December 200663,000 CARATS...

ASX AND MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 13th December 2006
63,000 CARATS INDICATED RESOURCE ESTIMATED
FOR DIAZ POINT 1 (DP1) AREA, OFFSHORE NAMIBIA
Key points
• Indicated Resource of 63,000 carats of newly defined resource has been independently estimated in the Diaz Prospect 1 area in ML111, Namibia
• Total resource area of 315,000m2 at average grade of 0.2ct/m2
• 76% of total resource (48,000 carats) occurs at an average grade of 0.43ct/m2 in an area of 111,500m2 within defined resource area
• Anticipated 30% increase in estimated grades during mining
Independent consultant SRK has estimated an Indicated Resource of 63,000 carats in the Diaz Prospect 1 (DP1) in ML111 off Luderitz. This JORC compliant estimate is based on Bonaparte Diamond Mines’ 2006 marine sampling results in an area where previous sampling completed in 1996 did not have sufficient density of results for resource delineation. Further detail on the SRK resource estimate is provided in Appendix 1.
The Indicated Resource of 63,000 carats occurs within 7 discrete zones in DP1 with a combined area of 315,000m2 and an average grade of 0.2 ct/m2 (See Figure 1 attached). This global grade exceeds the assay cut-off of 0.1 ct/m2 which is normally applied to offshore diamond resource estimates. The total resource area is larger than the initial estimates of 290,000m2 of near continuous mineralisation announced at completion of sampling. Application of an assay cut-off of 0.2ct/m2 shows that within this global resource area, at least 76% (48,000 carats) of the resource is contained in an area of approximately 111,500m2 at an average grade of 0.43ct/m2.
Gem quality diamonds (112.18 carats) recovered from Diaz Prospect 1, Namibia by Bonaparte
SRK anticipate that grades achieved during mining could