JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim- and AltX-listed DiamondCorp has placed its operating subsidiary Lace Diamond Mines (LDM) into business rescue.
The company on Monday said it was consulting a business rescue practitioner for LDM after heavy rainfall on November 11 overwhelmed the Free State-based Lace mine's pumping systems and flooded the 310 m production level to the hanging wall.
It noted that almost 90 mm of rain had fallen at the mine within an hour, which equated to nearly one-third of the rain the mine usually experiences in a year.
In total, more than 10 000 m3 of water is estimated to have entered the mine through the openpit and access ramps.
A longhole drill rig that was operating at the time of the flood will have to be recovered and the electrics rebuilt – a process that is likely to take 12 weeks to complete. Production at the mine could not resume until then.
LDM will appoint a business rescue practitioner in due course.
This comes only a week after DiamondCorp said it would no longer sell the Lace mine, as it had considered earlier, following various production and financial challenges.