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January 2015
MODERN MINING
61
DIAMONDS
Top projects
Looking up the Liqhobong
Valley towards the tempo-
rary site accommodation
and the RSF.
been removed by converting all the contracts
to fixed prices.
As of late November, when
Modern Mining
spoke to Brown, the project was on time and
within budget with 460 people already on
site (this number will rise to around 800 in
2015) and over 200 pieces of earthmoving
and construction equipment deployed. Work
on the main plant terraces, the accommoda-
tion terraces and the RSF was well underway.
Construction of the plant will start in Q1 2015
with the C2 commissioning scheduled for Q1
2016 and C3 commissioning for Q2 2016.
To ensure that Liqhobong is implemented
smoothly, Brown has selected as Chief Project
Officer one of South Africa’s most experienced
project managers in the diamond mining field
– Glenn Black. He was appointed in February
2014. Like Brown, he enjoyed a 20-year career
with De Beers, during which he worked on
major projects in Namibia, South Africa (the
Voorspoed mine, among others), Canada and
Botswana. He reportedly successfully deliv-
ered nine of the largest and most complex
projects undertaken during this period by De
Beers. Comments Brown: “Glenn and I go back
a long way and from the moment I became
involved with Firestone I had him earmarked
as our Project Manager.”
One of the challenges presented by Lesotho’s
kimberlites is their remote location high in the
Maloti mountains. While this does complicate
logistics, it probably should be pointed out that
Liqhobong is accessible via the asphalt-surfaced
road leading to the Katse Dam, with only the
last few kilometres being on gravel. The gravel
road accessing the site is being upgraded, with
the work including 5,8 km of new road align-
ment which takes the road around the RSF and
also enhances safety.
Although a mining contractor for Liqhobong
has not yet been appointed, Firestone is talking
to Maseru-based Matekane Mining Investment
Company (MMIC), which operates one of the
largest fleets of earthmoving equipment in
Lesotho and which is the mining contractor
at Letšeng. MMIC has worked for Firestone in
the past and is thus well acquainted with the
Liqhobong site. “We are currently redoing the
Whittle optimsation of the pit and revising the
mine plan,” says Brown. “Once these tasks
have been completed, we’ll be in a position to
finalise a mining contract.”
Finally, what is the upside for Liqhobong in
terms of mine life? “When we get to pit bottom
we will only have mined about 60 % of the
known 29 million-carat resource in and below
the open pit,” Brown responds. “Apart from
this, we have holes down to 760 m and we’re
still in kimberlite, so there is scope to grow the
resource. Clearly an extension of mine life is
possible via either a fourth cut in the open pit
– which would involve some formidable strip-
ping of material – or we could transform into
an underground mine. Obviously, we’ll do the
necessary trade off studies at the appropriate
time to assess whether and how we should
proceed. But this decision is years away. In
the meantime, we have a world-class kimber-
lite project to deliver and are totally focused
on this task, which will result in Firestone
emerging as a significant mid-tier diamond
producer.”
Photos courtesy of Firestone Diamonds