Diamond producer De Beers’ Venetia diamond mine, which officially opened on August 14, 1992, is currently the largest producer of diamonds in South Africa and accounts for about 40% of the country’s total yearly diamond production.

While the mine is currently an openpit operation, work started in late 2013 to build a new underground mining operation beneath the current operating openpit.

The new underground mine will extend the life of Venetia to beyond 2040 and replace the openpit production from 2021 as South Africa’s largest diamond mine. Over the construction period between the present and 2021, employment will peak at about 4 000. After 2021, the underground operation will support 6 626 jobs, of which 1 482 will be in the mine and 5 143 elsewhere, supporting mining activity.

Value
De Beers expects to invest about R20-billion in the Venetia underground mine from the present to 2021, when the conversion from openpit to underground is expected to begin.

Duration
Underground operations will begin production in 2021.

Latest Developments
Construction of the Venetia underground mine was launched by President Jacob Zuma on October 22, 2013. The first sod was turned on the terrace where two vertical shafts and a decline shaft will be sunk to a depth of one kilometre to extend the life of South Africa’s biggest and most lucrative diamond mine.

Sixty kilometres of tunnelling will have to be constructed before the underground operation can start production, using massive mining techniques to produce 5.9-million tonnes a year of ore and providing employment for about 1 800 people for the next 22 years.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Mining contractor Murray & Roberts Cementa- tion, local construction, mining, development and engineering group Basil Read Civils, JSE-listed Consolidated Infrastructure Group subsidiary Conco Operations & Maintenance, Swedish engineering group Sandvik and capital equipment group Barloworld are the key contractors and suppliers.