PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Embattled Kimberley Diamonds has reportedly entered voluntary administration only days after its Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana, was closed.
Kimberley delisted from the ASX in March this year, and the Lerala mine was reportedly closed on June 1, with the company citing weak market conditions.
ASX-listed Winmar Resources, which is a joint venture (JV) partner on Kimberley’s Lomero metals project, in Spain, on Friday announced to the market that the diamond miner had gone into voluntary administration.
Under the terms of the farm-in and JV agreement, Winmar recently fulfilled its first year expenditure obligation at the Lomero project, and had acquired a 10% participating interest in the project.
The JV agreement would ultimately see Winmar increase its shareholding in the project to 70% through staged investment.
The Australian company said on Friday that Winmar was now in discussions with the Kimberley administrators over the future of the project, adding that the initial discussions were ‘encouraging’.