JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Australia’s Kimberley Diamonds said on Wednesday that it was preparing for its first sale of diamonds recovered from the newly operating Lerala mine, in Botswana.
An online auction, conducted by DDA Trading, would be held on June 28, in Belgium.
“Diamonds are currently being prepared for sale and will soon be shipped to Antwerp,” the company stated.
Kimberley Diamonds further reported that DDA, with which it had a sales and marketing agreement, had agreed to waive certain conditions to a $2.8-million working capital facility for Lerala, allowing the facility to be drawn down once sufficient collateral of diamonds became available.
To date, DDA provided a total of $1.11-million in loans to Lerala. These loans were made under a separate agreement while the facility was not able to be drawn down. DDA had agreed to convert the existing loan into the facility.
Kimberley Diamonds and DDA had also agreed to extend their sales agreement by an extra two years to five years.
Meanwhile, the diamond miner reported that it had raised $3.17-million from its nonrenounceable rights offer, which closed on March 24, representing only 78.9% of the total value of the rights issue. Of this amount, $2.72-million had been raised through shortfall placements.
The company stated that directors were in discussions with interested investors and aimed to place the remaining $850 000 of the shortfall before the end of June.
Processing operations at Lerala started in May. Once in full production, the mine would treat 1.4-million tonnes of ore a year, producing an average of 357 000 ct/y.