Lerala Dimaond Mine
Kimberley Diamonds Ltd, the Australian mining company is looking to recommence activities at the Botswana based Lerala mine following key approvals by the company’s board of directors.
The company said its board has approved the recommencement of mining, processing and diamond sales operations at the Lerala Diamond Mine and has approved the expenditure of AUD$14.6m to be spent on upfront capital items required to bring the plant and mine to a state of readiness.
Already, KDL as the company is called has agreed a lump sum turnkey contract with Consulmet (Pty) Limited for modifications to the plant at the mine to allow the plant to operate more effectively, and allow it to reliably treat 200 tonnes per hour.
Kimberly halted talks with Consulmet since December 2014 to allow the company to raise enough funds to proceed with the modifications and has since raised funding with Zhejiang Huitong Auction Co Ltd.
“KDL has been in ongoing discussions with Consulmet regarding the plant modification work since 2014. In September 2014, KDL announced that it had engaged Consulmet to undertake the design and detailed engineering work to effect the proposed plant modifications. This work was completed by December 2014,” it said in an update to the market.
“The execution of the Consulmet Agreement is a key step towards the recommissioning of the plant at the Lerala Diamond Mine, and recommencement of mining at Lerala. Consulmet will be paid approximately AUD$9.83 million to undertake the plant modifications, and is scheduled to complete the work by February 2016.”
Consulmet is a South African based company which specialises in the design, supply and construction of mineral processing plants, and has significant experience designing plants for diamond producers, having operated in Africa since 1993.
Recent diamond projects undertaken by Consulmet include the design, supply and/or installation of diamond plants for Jagersfontein Developments (South Africa), Transhex (SouthAfrica), Venetia Mine (De Beers, South Africa), Ghaghoo Mine (Gem Diamonds, Botswana), Alexkor (South Africa), Koidu Kimberlite (Sierra Leone), Murowa Diamonds (Rio Tinto, Zimbabwe), Namakwa Diamonds (South Africa & Lesotho), Diacor CC (South Africa) and BHP Billiton (Angola). Consulmet has also been involved in various Kimberlite projects in Lesotho, Angola and Tanzania.
