Business
Botswana’s Stable Diamond Industry Increases Mine Prospects for Second Quarter
As Gem Diamond’s flagship Letšeng mine, in Lesotho, continued to perform well during the year to December, the London-listed diamond miner was gearing up for commercial production from its Ghaghoo mine, in Botswana. The $96-million mine, situated near the south-eastern border of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, was on track for commercial production during the second half of 2014, said CEO Clifford Elphick on Tuesday.
The diamond miner aimed to ramp up to the Phase 1 planned production rate of 200 000 ct/y to 220 000 ct/y – extracted from 720 000 t of ore – by the end of the year. “With the kimberlite now intersected and the development of the mining tunnels taking place, the completion of Phase 1 of the project is in sight,” Elphick said, adding that the main decline reached 50 m from the break-off to the first production level in February 2014.
“It is very satisfying to see that the advance of the decline shaft through difficult and dangerous conditions has taken place on time and within budget,” he said. The mine, which was in a remote area, characterized by shifting sands and difficult road conditions, had effective operating mining support infrastructure, a camp, a treatment plant and other services in place.
By December, Gem Diamonds had spent $71.2-million of the total capital budget for Ghaghoo and the group had, in January, finalized a $25-million nine-month unsecured loan facility through Nedbank Capital for the remaining capital spend. This facility was due to be refinanced through a longer-term debt facility prior to its expiry in October.
Gem Diamonds said a decision to delay the sinking of the planned 6-m-diameter ventilation shaft from 2013 to 2015 had allowed the replanning and the redesign of the ventilation system and escape way to smaller 1 100-mm-diameter drilled holes.
“The drilling of these ventilation and escape holes is progressing well and will be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2014,” Elphick noted. The processing plant was expected to be fully commissioned by May – well ahead of a sustainable feed of run-of-mine ore becoming available from underground. A build-up to a steady state production rate of 60 000 t/m was planned.
Meanwhile, Gem Diamonds reported that a “significant reduction” in diamond breakage had been achieved after the installation of new crushers in May 2013. By the end of December, the company had recovered 25 diamonds larger than 50 ct through Letšeng’s plants 1 and 2 since installation.
