With DMS plant on site, the company is ready to process bulk sample material on-site plant.

Stellar Diamonds chief executive Karl Smithson said the bulk sampling commencement at Tongo marks a significant milestone and was conducted successfully by experienced mining team.

"The objective of the bulk sampling program is to obtain a representative diamond parcel for valuation and price modeling which forms an integral part of the feasibility study process," Smithson added.

"The Tongo Dyke-1 diamonds are of exceptional quality with a 1,140 carat parcel previously achieving a modelled average value of $248 per carat, even though this parcel did not contain any diamonds larger than 4 carats," Smithson continued.

The company is scheduled to extract approximately 2,000 tons of Dyke-1 kimberlite, through controlled drilling and blasting over the coming months.