Photo by: Reuters
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Kimberley Diamonds on Wednesday went into a trading halt ahead of a possible project acquisition.
The company was expected to resume trading on October 10.
Meanwhile, the miner has moved to sooth shareholder fears on its liquidity, stating that despite media speculation, the company remained a going concern and that neither the company, nor any of its subsidiaries were insolvent.
However, Kimberley Diamonds noted that it would need to raise capital to realise its future plans, including the restart of the Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana.
The miner recently took the first step in recommissioning the Lerala diamond mine with the appointment of Consulmet to undertake detailing and design work to modify the plant.
Kimberley is looking to modify the Lerala plant to enable it to reliably treat some 200 t/y of ore, and has engaged Consulmet to undertake the detailing and design work for this modification.
In the meantime, Kimberley would continue with processing surface stockpiles at its Ellendale operation until May next year, after which the project would be placed on care and maintenance until higher diamond prices could be achieved to support further economically viable operations.
It is estimated that the Ellendale mine had some 2.2-million carats in resource.