Aim-listed Kazera Global says it is ready to export its first commercial delivery of tantalum to its Chinese partner from its wholly owned mine at Tantalite Valley, Namibia.

Kazera says considerable work has been undertaken in recent months to improve tantalum grades to commercially acceptable levels.

This has now been achieved and the company has plans in place to further upgrade the plant to significantly increase production volumes and improve reliability during the fourth quarter.

“Having got our grades to where we want them, we can now work on substantially boosting tantalum production in the near future. Exporting our first commercial batch of tantalum is great news and will considerably boost the morale of all our stakeholders including our team in Namibia, as well as generating revenue,” comments CEO Dennis Edmonds.

Separately, the company has also completed the installation of a pan plant at its Alexander Bay diamond mine in South Africa, thereby removing reliance on external parties to process diamonds.

The pan plant is capable of processing up of 70 t of gravel an hour and has the capacity to quickly deal with the gravel stockpiles that the company has built up but has not been able to process.

The new facility gives the company complete control over its diamond production, with State-owned diamond miner Alexkor only being responsible for final sorting and sales.

The cost of the pan plant will be recovered from the cash flows generated by the diamond mine.

Kazera also anticipates further improvement in cash flows from diamond operations through additional income from making the pan plant available to other contract miners when it is not being used by the company.

“The introduction of the pan plant on such favourable commercial terms into our diamond operations gives us considerable independence and removes much of the uncertainty that has previously plagued our diamond operations.

“I expect they will now become a regular contributor to the company’s bottom line, so that the South African operations will no longer require funding from Kazera’s group level,” Edmonds says.

Meanwhile, Kazera’s heavy mineral sands mining permit for the Alexander Bay diamond mine has not yet been received because a further determination is still being awaited from the relevant Minister.

However, the company says it remains confident that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy followed the appropriate procedures in initially granting the permit and that its decision will be upheld.