ASX-listed Newfield Resources has completed the blasting of the boxcut for the portal access to the underground declines at its Tongo diamond mine, in Sierra Leone.
"Work is now focussed on providing the necessary support of the boxcut and shaping of the haul road to attain the right angle of entry into the decline.
"With the recent signing of the lease agreement for the mining equipment, which is due to arrive on site at the end of this year, we look forward to commencing the opening of the portal and driving down the decline towards the Kundu and Lando ore reserves from January 2020," Newfield CEO Karl Smithson said on Friday.
He added that the company had decided to adopt a processing plant design that would enable the rapid modular expansion of the plant from 50 t/h to 100 t/h.
"This provides the potential for significantly expanded production rates from 2023 and also delivers the flexibility to further increase production from existing and other kimberlites that are not yet in the broader mine plan," said Smithson.
He pointed out that mine design optimisation work had already identified an opportunity to develop the Tongo D-1 kimberlite in parallel with the planned mining of the Kundu and Lando kimberlites from 2023.