JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – LSE-listed diamond mining company Gem Diamonds will place the lower value E4 pipe, at its wholly-owned subsidiary Kimberley Diamond’s Elledale mine, in Western Australia, on care-and-maintenance.

Mining at the pipe would be suspended immediately, in light of recent market conditions, and as part of an ongoing review of its operations, the company said on Thursday.

The Ellendale project consisted of a number of lamproitic pipes, two of which were currently being mined while the others were targeted for sampling. Current resource statements for Ellendale show a resource of 105-million tons, at an average grade of five carats per hundred tons.

Mining at the E9 pipe would continue at current levels.

The company has a specific focus towards higher value diamonds, a segment of the market expected to deliver superior long-term returns. It produces some of the world's most remarkable white diamonds from its Letšeng mine, in Lesotho, and rare fancy yellow diamonds from its Ellendale mine.

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