Star Diamond Corporation provides the technical update on the opportunity for Carbon capture using processed kimberlite from the Star Orion South Diamond Project. This process is known as Carbon mineralization and preliminary studies referenced below indicate that kimberlite waste rock from these kimberlites may indeed function as a significant sink of atmospheric CO2.
The most common mineral in kimberlite is Olivine, and its Serpentine Group weathering products, which, when exposed to the atmosphere at the Earth’s surface, react with carbon dioxide to form solid mineral carbonates and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
When exposed to the atmosphere at the Earth’s surface, Lizardite reacts with CO2 to form stable carbonates. Laboratory studies conducted at the universities show that, under specific conditions, these Lizardite containing kimberlite samples can react with significant quantities of CO2 and remove it from the atmosphere: as much as 398 kg CO2 per tonne of processed kimberlite when fully reacted.
The 2018 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) estimates that for a future mine on the Starand Orion South Kimberlites, some 470 million tonnes of kimberlite will be processed at a rate of 45,000 tonnes per day, over 34 years, to recover about 66 million (mn) carats (cts) of diamonds. Star Diamond is working with the academic institutions to develop a scope of work to investigate Carbon mineralization opportunities for this enormous volume of processed kimberlite.
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