Botswana Diamonds, together with its associate Vutomi, has signed a contract mining and processing agreement with Eurafrican Diamond Corporation (EDC) to mine and process the diamond-bearing gravels and residual stockpiles on a portion of the Marsfontein farm, in Limpopo.
Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling indicated that partnering with EDC paved the way for commercial production to restart on Marsfontein and the nearby Thorny River project.
“EDC has a rich history of successful diamond mining and processing and has excellent technical and financial support. Furthermore, EDC and Vutomi projects complement one another, providing a strong project pipeline,” he said.
EDC is mining and processing the Schuller kimberlite pipe and diamond-bearing gravels around Petra’s Cullinan diamond mine, about 20 km north west of Pretoria.
The company receives technical support from Baxter Brown, who discovered the Baken and Oena diamond mines, in South Africa, and helped discover the Argyle diamond mine, in Australia.
The financial consultant to EDC is Dr Mike Seeger, a mining financier and author of many publications.
The contract mining and processing agreement allows for the continued contractual bulk sampling on the Thorny River project, as well as first refusal rights, between EDC and Vutomi, on all their South African diamond exploration and development projects.
The environmental authorisation has already been granted for the Marsfontein project and the remaining regulatory grants are expected to be received shortly.