North Australian Diamonds Limited has been granted a six-year license to explore the Borroloola Alluvial Diamond Project, located 100 kilometers north of its Merlin diamond mine, the company announced last week.

The Borroloola project is known to contain alluvial gravels derived from the Merlin kimberlite field and the Abner Range. Numerous other diamond indicator minerals and microdiamonds found indicate that undiscovered kimberlite pipes exist in the area and also drain through the MacArthur River towards the Borroloola Alluvial Diamond Project area.

A seven-week sampling program is planned to begin later this month and aims to recover up to 5,000 tons of gravel which will be screened on site, then be carted to the Merlin Diamond Mine for processing and rough diamond recovery. Any diamonds yielded will be graded and valued to help assess the project’s economic value.