JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – As dual-listed Rockwell Diamonds’ Saxendrift mine nears the end of its economic life, the miner will now focus on rebuilding the production profile at its existing Middle Orange River (MOR) operations, redeploying assets to newly acquired operations and expediting work on development projects.

Saxendrift volumes were up 11% year-on-year to 536 000 m³ in the three months to May 31, led by improved plant and mining fleet efficiencies, with carat production up 9% year-on-year. The company was now planning for a reduced operation of 130 000 m³ a month for the remainder of the operation’s mine life.

Meanwhile, production volumes at Niewejaarskraal (NJK) fell 72% year-on-year as the company suspended operations to review the geology and research opportunities to optimise the processing plant’s performance.

MOR carat sales were up 3% year-on-year to 3 068 ct, but MOR diamond sales, excluding beneficiation, were down 13% year-on-year to $5.4-million owing largely to the mix of goods between the operations and the timing of sales.

Total sales were down 24% to $6.7-million, owing to less goods from royalty contractor miners after the sale of the Tirisano operations.

“This last quarter was very challenging as we managed the closure of some of our operations and worked to complete the Bondeo 140 cc transaction.

“We took over the Remhoogte/Holsloot (RH/HS) project from May 28, where the first three days’ production made a nominal first quarter contribution. We have adopted a conservative approach to the roll-out of our integration plan and expect to steadily ramp up the throughput and further rationalise the various business into one operational structure over the current quarter. The grades and volumes processed at the RH/HS project have been in line with expectations,” Rockwell CEO and president James Campbell said.

The company was also focused on advancing its Lanyonvale and Wouterspan development projects with the aim of replacing Saxendrift production.

Meanwhile, the diamond miner was finalising its plan of action to raise equity funding to repay the bridging loan, provided by Diacore and Rockwell chairperson Mark Bristow, which facilitated the closure of the Remshoogte acquisition.

“Having successfully assumed control of these new operations, we have significantly de-risked the financing aspect of the transaction. We believe that these new projects, together with our exciting development projects, present potential investors with an attractive entry point,” Campbell said.