Shefa Yamim shares (LON:SEFA) rose on Wednesday after the company said it had received a technical economic evaluation for Zone 1 of its Kishon Mid-Reach project.

According to a company statement, the evaluation revealed that the mine has the potential to process a total of 1.5 million tonnes of gravel over an 11-year mine life.

In addition, Shefa Yamim said that the the overburden removed would be around 1.8 million tonnes, with an operating cost budget estimated at $26 (US dollars) per tonne.

Avi Taub, Chief Executive of Shefa Yamim, commented on the findings: “We are encouraged by the Technical Economic Evaluation for our Kishon Mid-Reach Zone 1 project which has provided the Company with a solid base case for the development of the Kishon Mid-Reach Zone 1 project. The independent TEE report suggests that the project is at the lower end of the cost curve, placing the costs on a par with comparable diamond producers and at the lower end of the precious stone producers.

“For a relatively small amount of investment, the Company will be able to upgrade its new processing plant and machinery, which will double its processing capacity as well as potentially halving the unit operating cost once in steady state operations. I look forward to updating with further developments as we progress towards providing an indicative valuation of the precious stones and trial mining on the Kishon Mid-Reach Zone 1 project.”

Shefa Yamim is a multi-commodity gemstone mining exploration company. Its operations are located in Northern Israel.

Shares in Shefa Yamim (LON:SEFA) are currently up +6.74% as of 11:21AM (GMT).