JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A joint-venture (JV) subsidiary of London-listed Namakwa Diamonds has been granted a mining lease and mining rights for one of the largest kimberlite pipes in Lesotho and Southern Africa.

The diamond-miner on Tuesday told shareholders that the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho had transferred the mining lease to the Kao Kimberlite pipe to Namakwa Batla Diamonds Limited (NBDL), a JV between Namakwa, Batla Minerals SA, Lesotho investors and the government of Lesotho.

"Kao represents a genuinely exciting development for the company, signalling a move into a new Southern African geographical region and our first kimberlite project,” Namakwa Diamonds CEO Nico Kruger noted in a statement.

The company’s primary focus is alluvial diamond deposits, including marine.

At 19,8 ha, the main kimberlite pipe at Kao was the largest in Lesotho and the fourth largest in Southern Africa, the diamond-miner highlighted.

It was situated within a 20-km radius of Gem Diamonds’ Letšeng and Liqhobong mines, where some of the world’s largest diamonds have been found.

Kao has a total resource of 173-million tons, containing about 12,4-million carats.

Namakwa would develop the Kao pipe from its current internal resources. It expected to process ten-million tons of kimberlite to recover 700 000 ct over the next five years.

Production would then be ramped up to process five-million tons a year of kimberlite, with an expected life-of-mine exceeding 40 years.

NBDL has agreed to pay up to R50,6-million to some creditors of the previous holder of the lease, in Lesotho, Namakwa added.

Meanwhile, the company has also appointed Keith Whitelock as chief technical officer, who will initially be tasked with heading up the Kao project.

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