Mexivada starts diamond mining at Kono, Sierra Leone; Larger diamond found at Lepandza, ROC Congo

Sierra Leone Projects: Mexivada Mining Corp. (MNV.V) has begun diamond mining near Koidu Town, in the heart of the famous, world class Kono mining district of Sierra Leone. Hundreds of millions of US Dollars worth of diamonds are produced from the district every year, including many fancy-colored stones. Kono is renowned for its high-quality white gem diamonds, but also yields highly attractive green, yellow, and rare blue and reddish colored stones. In earlier years, many of the colored diamonds were reported to have been discarded. The Kono District is home to the largest concentration of artisanal miners in the world.

Mexivada’s partners have received a second artisanal mining license (”AML”) for diamond mining from the government of Sierra Leone. This AML covers a 1-acre site adjoining the first license, on the opposite, upslope side of the creek. The Mexivada partnership will mine the first AML area and then proceed to the second AML area afterward.

Mexivada’s mining operation is focused on mining a large-diamond-bearing channelized deposit of alluvial gravels and on previously extracted, but unprocessed, dump piles of these gravels from the first AML. This diamondiferous gravel channel has yielded white, green, and yellowish diamonds up to 14 carats in weight from the adjacent, privately-owned AML on the downstream side of Mexivada’s present operation.

The targeted braided-stream channel gravel deposit is approximately 80 to 100 feet in width, and the most highly diamond-enriched portion is the lowest 12 to 24 inches at the base of the channel deposit. Overburden gravels on Mexivada’s first concession appear to be 6 to 8 feet in thickness. These upper gravels will be tested for larger, trapped diamonds and also for any remnant smaller diamonds, as part of the due diligence process. Mexivada is targeting the recovery, through Hartz jigs, of larger, plus 0.5 carat to plus 10 carat white and colored diamonds for the specialty and auction diamond markets. Mexivada will report on the results achieved from this initial test mining evaluation prior to the PDAC meeting in Toronto in March, 2009.

Mexivada also is starting up a new white- and colored-diamond purchase-and-export business for the North American and European consumer and auction markets, to complement its mining and exploration efforts. Mexivada’s plan is to have this business up and running within several weeks.

ROC Congo Projects: Adolphe Nguimbi, Mexivada’s General Manager in the ROC Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), reports that a one carat white diamond was found by a gold prospector in Mexivada’s Lepandza-Makoubi-Bouawsa diamond project area near Mayoko, Congo. The diamond was found in Lepandza Creek, approximately 420 meters westerly of a sample that contained chromites and a 0.5 mm diamond, and 520 meters west of a sample in which a “G-10″ diamond indicator garnet was recovered. Mexivada feels that this target area is an excellent prospect for discovery of a diamondiferous kimberlitic pipe or dike system.