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A drilling test near Haifa revealed corundum, sapphire, rubies, and moissanite.
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Shefa Yamim Ltd. (TASE: SEFA) today published the findings from the second stage of its drilling plan in a previously unexamined 90-dunam (22.5-acre) field block in the Kishon riverbed. The drilling was part of the company’s 97 survey drillings that discovered significant quantities of gravel that may contain pockets with potential deposits of precious stones. 340 tons of earth were collected from the target layers.
In its announcement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and the Israel Securities Authority today, the company said that the second stage drillings had achieved their main goal: to find the relevant layers of earth. The company added that a test of the material collected from the drilling revealed a total of 168.51 carats of corundum, sapphire, rubies, and moissanite.
The company stated that in two specific locations in the area, high concentrations of varying from 1.09 to 4.16 carats per tons were found in specific drillings. Concentrations in the 0.15-1.00 carat per ton range were found in a different part of the drilling. The company emphasizes that there were positive findings in every one of its 97 drillings.
In view of the findings, Shefa Yamim is preparing a working plan to develop a number of boreholes (and to take hundreds of tons of material from each borehole, in contrast to the few tons taken from the drillings) in order to discover significant quantities of precious stones indicating that deposits are likely. The company is also planning to conduct additional survey drillings in the field block between the areas of its first and second drilling stages. The drillings will be located according to their proximity to pockets, and to places where high concentrations were found.
The goal of the survey drillings is to find underground gravel layers that may contain pockets with potential for precious stones deposits. The two main parameters being examined in the survey drillings are the thickness of the target layers (a thicker layer is more likely, although not certain, to contain deposits) and the underground depth of the target layers (it is easier to reach higher layers).
In its announcement, the company stresses that only the removal of a more significant quantity of material by opening boreholes will make it possible to test whether or not there are quantities of stones indicating the presence of a deposit.
The company’s share price rose 18% on the news.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com
