Ministers endorse push for zero TB deaths among Southern African miners

Late last month, Ministers of Health and Labour from the 15 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries endorsed a declaration on tuberculosis (TB) in the mining sector that is designed to drive a regional response to the issue.

Firestone finds three large diamonds at Lesotho mine

Aim-listed diamond mining and exploration company Firestone Diamonds has recovered three large stones at its Liqhobong mine, in Lesotho, including an unbroken 74 ct light yellow diamond. The 74 ct diamond, found in April, is the largest recovered...

ASIA

Tenders for work in the Asia

Namakwa poised to become Lesotho’s biggest diamond producer – CEO

London-listed junior Namakwa Diamonds has completed its strategic restructuring and expects to become net-cash generative in the second half of the 2012 financial year, CEO Richard Collocott said on Thursday. The company started production from...

Paragon buys rest of International Diamond Consultants

Africa-focused diamond explorer and developer Paragon Diamonds has bought the final 1.5% stake in International Diamond Consultants (IDC) from Obtala Resources. This transaction brought the group’s shareholding in IDC to 100% after the initial...

Lucara recovers first Karowe diamonds, closes $25m facility

Emerging miner Lucara Diamond said on Monday it had closed a $25-million revolving credit facility to fund development and operations at its new Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana. This comes as the Vancouver-based firm also announced first...

Namakwa Diamonds says workers call wage strike

London-listed junior Namakwa Diamonds said on Wednesday that its 2012 production guidance remained intact at 20 000 ct, despite workers calling a strike over wages at its operations in South Africa’s North West province. The company stated that...

Gem Diamonds says rough diamond prices on the rise

Rough diamond prices were expected to continue climbing “across the market” this year, LSE-listed Gem Diamonds said on Monday. The Clifford Elphick-led company said in an interim management statement that its price index showed increases in...

Paragon reports diamond grades at Lesotho’s Motete

Aim-listed Paragon Diamonds on Friday reported micro-diamond grades of up to 90 cpht at +0.85 mm and 60 cpht at +1.18 mm at its Motete dyke project, in Lesotho. The company, which completed a micro-diamond sampling programme in March, undertook...

Namakwa enters into new $10m loan, lowers Kao forecast

Africa-focused miner Namakwa Diamonds on Tuesday lowered its 2012 production target for its Kao mine, in Lesotho, and said it had entered a new $10-million loan facility with investment group Sputnick. The London-listed miner said it had...

Gem Diamonds sees prices strengthening by mid-2012

Global economic uncertainty is still likely to cause volatility in the rough diamond market in the first half of 2012, but prices should improve in the second half, the chairperson of London-listed Gem Diamonds said on Tuesday. Roger Davis said...

New initiative aiming for 50% decrease in new TB, HIV infections in Southern Africa by 2015

A collaboration between the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the World Bank, nongovernmental organisation (NGO) the International Organisation for Migration, and NGO Stop TB Partnership will soon see the roll-out of an ambitious...