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The Groen River Valley exploration project covers an area of approximately 500 square kilometres of the lower reaches of the Groen River in Namaqualand. A considerable amount of prospecting has been carried out by Firestone, resulting in the identification of the palaeo river systems which were responsible for transporting the diamonds of large size and high quality that have been mined near the mouth of the Groen River by De Beers and other operators. Firestone has entered into a joint venture under which De Beers will finance all exploration and evaluation work up to completion of bankable feasibility in return for a 61% interest in the project.

A programme of drilling and bulk sampling is being undertaken to evaluate the 13 deposits that have been identified in the project area. Bulk sampling on the HL deposit has produced five high quality gem diamonds weighing 1.11 carats. Sampling on the GR2 deposit is planned for 2007. Previous work on the GR2 deposit has produced grades of 7-13 carats per hundred tonnes, which would be economically viable given the high value of Groen River Valley diamonds. A mobile sampling plant is in the process of being erected in the Groen River Valley in order to increase the speed of sample processing and is expected to be in operation in Q1 2007.

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