Modern Mining August 2015

MINING News

The Lerala mine showing the crusher installation (photo: Kimberley Diamonds).

Consulmet awarded contract for Lerala plant upgrade

company which specialises in the design, supply and construction of mineral process- ing plants, and has significant experience designing plants for diamond producers, having operated in Africa since 1993. Included within the Consulmet scope is the procurement of new or modified equipment including a primary scrubber module; a secondary crusher surge bin module; a secondary crusher module; a DMS surge bin module; and a recovery module. In addition and due to its long delivery time, KDL purchased a Kawasaki CYBAS-i cone crusher in mid-2014 as a replacement secondary crusher and this is ready for delivery from South Africa when required. In parallel to the work being undertaken by Consulmet, KDL has a detailed schedule of activities it will also be undertaking at Lerala prior to recommencement of opera- tions, including construction of slimes and process water containment facilities, infra- structure and communications upgrades, and the recruitment and training of opera- tional and support personnel. In addition, ongoing discussions are The processing plant at Lerala was commissioned in 2008 by DiamonEx, the developer of the mine. The project was acquired by Kimberley Diamonds in 2014 (photo: Kimberley Diamonds).

currently taking place with prospective mining contractors who have submitted qualifying tenders for the contract min- ing at Lerala. It is anticipated that a final selection will be made and the contract awarded in October 2015. The mining con- tractor will commence site establishment shortly thereafter in order to start mining in February 2016. The plant will start commissioning on

The board of ASX-listed Kimberley Diamonds Ltd (KDL) has given the ‘green light’ for the recommencement of mining, processing and diamond sales operations at the Lerala diamond mine in Botswana and has approved the expenditure of A$14,6 million to be spent on upfront capi- tal items required to bring the plant and mine to a state of readiness. KDL has entered into a lump sum turnkey contract with Consulmet for modi- fications to the plant at Lerala to allow it to operate more effectively and reliably treat 200 tonnes per hour. KDL has been in ongoing discussions with Consulmet regarding the plant modification work since 2014. Consulmet will be paid approximately A$9,83 million to undertake the plant modifications and is scheduled to com- plete the work by February 2016. Discussions with Consulmet had been on hold since December 2014 until KDL was able to raise the funds required to pro- ceedwith themodifications. As announced in June 2015, KDL has now received the first A$5 million under the terms of a loan agreement entered into with a third party lender, Zhejiang Huitong Auction Co Ltd (Zhejiang). Consulmet is a South African-based

4  MODERN MINING  August 2015