Modern Mining April 2016

DIAMONDS

Open-pit mining starts at Lerala ASX-listed Kimberley Diamonds Ltd (KDL) reports that open-pit min- ing operations have begun at its Lerala diamond mine in Botswana. Assuming that recommissioning of the process plant proceeds as planned, the first production and recovery of diamonds is expected this month (April) and the first diamond sales in June 2016.

A s announced by KDL in February this year, the min- ing contract for Lerala was awarded to Basil Read Min- ing Botswana following a competitive tender process. Basil Read mobilised staff and equipment to site during the months of February and March. Mining then commenced early in April from the K3 kimberlite pipe and operations will continue to develop a buffer stockpile of fresh kimberlite ore. Mining will then ramp up in line with the current production schedule to provide a con- sistent feed to the processing plant once processing commences. The Basil Read fleet of equipment includes a Komatsu PC850 hydraulic excavator, a Komatsu D155 tracked bull- dozer, Komatsu HD465-7 haul trucks, a Komatsu WA430 front end loader and an Atlas Copco T45 drill rig, as well as a fleet of service/support vehicles and equipment. KDL says that plant construction activities at Lerala continue to progress well despite recent delays experienced due to higher than usual rainfall being experienced at site. The primary scrubber, secondary crusher, 400-tonne DMS storage bin and the new recovery module are all

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structurally complete, with electri- cal and instrumentation work well advanced. Construction of the tailings dam extension commenced in March 2016 and is progressing on schedule to accept tailings this month (April). In addition, construction of the new dry tailings conveyor system was started in March 2016. The deposit at Lerala comprises a cluster of five diamond-bearing kim- berlites – designated K2 to K6 – which were originally discovered by De Beers in the early 1990s. Although De Beers undertook trial mining, it was left to Australian company DiamonEx to develop a mine at the site, with commis- sioning taking place in 2008. The global financial crisis led to the mine being placed on care and maintenance within months of its opening. A third company, Mantle Diamonds, operated the mine for a few months in 2012 producing approximately 73 000 carats. A range of technical issues in the processing plant, however, resulted in poor recovery and led to the mine once again being put on care and maintenance. KDL acquired the project in early 2014 and has since been busy upgrad- ing Lerala at a total cost of A$14 million, with the plant modifications accounting for A$9,4 million of this figure. 

Tel: +27 (0)11 383 9300 www.winder.co.za

Fax: +27 (0)11 383 9305 email: winder@winder.co.za

Basil Read Mining machines in action at Lerala (photo: Kimberley Diamonds).

April 2016  MODERN MINING  47