Modern Mining November 2017

MINING News

Liqhobong plant operating at nameplate capacity

plan, with operations gradually extending to mining more representative ore from the pit. Included in the production was the larg- est diamond recovered to date, a 134-carat light yellow stone, as well as 45 specials (larger than 10,8 carats). This compares to 54 specials in the previous quarter. Liqhobong’s zero lost time injury record was maintained with almost five million LTI-free hours having been worked since the start of the project. “Production for the quarter has been very stable and we ended the quarter slightly above all our anticipated produc- tion targets,” comments Stuart Brown, Firestone’s CEO. “While the previously announced average value per carat was somewhat disappointing, this is reflec- tive of the combination of the lower than expected occurrence of better quality diamonds recovered during the quarter, the widely reported current market con- ditions where sales are weaker in the finer sizes and weaker demand due to the time of the year. “We have started moving to other areas in the pit and, as expected, we have seen the start of some improvement in aver- age value per carat recovered. However, as highlighted in previous announcements, mining will progress into all areas of the pit in time and it will be some while before more representative volumes of all the ore types are mined and we can better estab- lish our revised average value per carat for planning purposes. As with many dia- mond deposits, the average value realised per carat may continue to show significant variability on a sale by sale basis. “Pleasingly, the quarter ended on a highlight with the announcement of the recovery of our second plus 100-carat stone at the end of September.” 

The Liqhobong mine in the highlands of Lesotho (photo: Firestone Diamonds).

In its latest quarterly update (for the period ended 30 September), AIM-listed Firestone Diamonds reports that 199 007 carats were recovered during the report- ing period at a grade of 21,1 carats per hundred tonnes at its new 75 %-owned

Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. According to the company, the plant is operating at nameplate capacity, treat- ing 944 852 tonnes of ore at an average of 507 tonnes per hour during the quarter. Mining operations are also proceeding to

Maiden resource declared for Caula deposit Mustang Resources, listed on the ASX, has announced its maiden JORC-compliant min- eral inferred resource estimate for the Caula graphite deposit (Licence 6678L).The deposit is located along strike from Syrah Resources’ Balama graphite project in Mozambique. The inferred mineral resource estimate for the Caula deposit is reported using a cut-off grade of 6,0 %Total Graphitic Carbon (TGC). It totals 5,4 Mt at an average grade of 13,0 %TGC for 702 600 tonnes of contained graphite. The result confirms Caula’s status as one of the highest-grade graphite depos- its in the world. Mustang Managing Director Christiaan

Jordaan said the maiden resource estimate for Caula highlighted the project’s out- standing scope to create future value for shareholders. “This result is based on just a small por- tion of the total target area,” Jordaan said. “The mineralisation remains open in all directions and there is excellent potential to grow the deposit significantly with a third round of drilling, particularly along the large-scale geophysical anomaly which has been defined.” The Caula deposit is located in northern Mozambique, approximately 230 km west of the coastal city of Pemba. 

16  MODERN MINING  November 2017