Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Australia-based Kimberley Diamonds Limited (KDL) has no intention of selling its Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana, the company confirmed on Monday.
“It has come to the board’s attention that there have been rumours in the market that KDL is attempting or intending to sell Lerala. Such rumours are not true. KDL has no intention of selling Lerala,” the board said in a statement to the ASX.
KDL reiterated that Lerala was its flagship project and that it continued to work towards reopening the mine in late 2015. Once in production, Lerala will produce about 1.4-million tonnes of ore a year, producing an average of 375 000 ct a year over a seven-year mine-life.
Earlier in September, KDL appointed Consulmet to undertake detailing and design work to modify the plant to treat about 200 t/y of ore. Consulmet will undertake the detailing and design work for this modification.
Lerala’s previous owner, Mantle Diamonds, placed the operation on care and maintenance in 2012.