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Corporate profile

Firestone is a diamond mining and development company with assets located in Botswana and Lesotho.

Firestone's principal asset is the Liqhobong project in Lesotho, where a substantial resource of over 90 Mt at an average grade of 34.3cpht containing 31 million carats has been identified at the Main Pipe. Small scale production was carried out at the Satellite Pipe using up to December 2008, when mining operations were suspended due to the sharp fall in diamond prices at that time. Firestone's focus is on recommencing production on the Main Pipe using the existing plant at Liqhobong in 2011, and the completion of a definitive feasibility study ("DFS") for a major plant expansion.

Preliminary results from the DFS, which is now at an advanced stage, indicate that the Main Pipe is likely to support a substantial, long life mining operation. Liqhobong is the third largest undeveloped kimberlite resource as measured by contained carats (after the Gahcho Kue and Star kimberlites in Canada), and the fourth largest as measured by tonnes (after the Star and Orion South kimberlites in Canada and the Gope kimberlite in Botswana). With capital costs for Liqhobong expected to be significantly lower than for these other projects Liqhobong is considered by the company to be one of the most attractive undeveloped kimberlites in the world.

Firestone has assembled a substantial portfolio of diamond projects in Botswana and recently commenced production at its BK11 kimberlite in the Orapa region. Firestone's achievement in commencing production in just over three years from being granted a prospecting licence for BK11, and less than nine months after the decision was made in December 2009 to proceed with mine development, demonstrates Firestone's significant capabilities in evaluating and developing kimberlite projects.

Firestone has a further 107 kimberlites in its Botswana portfolio, of which 29 have been proven to contain diamonds to date. Firestone intends to use cash flow from BK11 to accelerate the evaluation of these kimberlites with the objective of identifying additional resources that can be developed and brought into production.