The company's order, which will be shipped to the site in modular, containerised units, will include four segments with individual control systems. They include a wet front end and feed preparation area; an X-ray transmission (XRT) sorting area; a 10t/h dense media separator (DMS); and a water recycling area.

It will use a modern flowsheet and the latest X-ray transmission technology to ensure the recovery of diamonds up to 25mm with minimal breakage, and a secondary crushing circuit with a high-pressure rolls crusher to maximise liberation of smaller diamonds.

The front of the plant will be fed with washed run-of-mine (RoM) -80 millimetre kimberlite, followed by initial scrubbing and screening that will move coarse -80+25mm kimberlite to the jaw crusher. All fines exceeding -0.85 will be removed via a slotted screen.

The processed -25+12 and -12+6 mm kimberlite fractions will go through the plant's XRT sorter in two simultaneous feeds. The product sent to the sorter will be stored for recovery off-site at a secure facility.

"Star Diamond Corp is in complete support of the design and equipment selection for the bulk sample plant," senior vice president exploration and development George Read said.

"The modern flowsheet and state-of-the-art XRT sorting technology used in this plant will replicate the flowsheet and equipment of the processing plant that would be used on a potential future diamond mine."

Star-Orion's mineral resource estimates include 55.4 million carats indicated and 11.5 million carats inferred.