West African Diamonds to sell Koidu diamonds in February 2008

West African Diamonds (WAD) will sell diamonds from its Koidu mine in Sierra Leone starting in mid-February 2008.

The firm will sell stones from its Plant 11 mine in Koidu, Sierra Leone. The buyer is Antwerp-based Overseas Diamonds. The two firms signed an exclusive marketing agreement for all WAD’s stones gotten from Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The sale is to include all diamonds unearthed at Koidu to the date of sale. They will have gone through the required Kimberley Process procedures set up in Sierra Leone. About 4,580 diamonds weighing 285 carats have been recovered at Koidu since December 2007.

WAS also has sent its first batch of diamonds from its Bomboko Alluvial mine in Guinea, to Overseas Diamonds. They are scheduled to arrive in the next week or two.The shipment is reported to include more than 200 carats of diamonds. This includes four larger stones of between 3.8cts and 9.2cts.