Modern Mining August 2016

MINING News

Botswana’s Lerala diamond mine back in business

Reporting on Q4 2016 (to 30 June 2016), Australia’s Kimberley Diamonds Ltd (KDL) says that this was the first period in which processing operations were undertaken at its newly recommissioned Lerala diamond mine in Botswana. During the quarter, 70 589 tonnes of ore were processed, with 10 564,11 carats recovered. The first sale of diamonds from Lerala was undertaken on 28 June 2016. A small parcel of diamonds which was sourced predominantly fromhistoric pre-2016 ROM stockpiles was sent to Antwerp for auction. The diamonds were sold at an average price of US$98 per carat, with 1 110,18 car- ats sold for total revenue of US$108 650. The Lerala mine comprises a cluster of five diamond-bearing kimberlite vol- canic pipes, designated K2 to K6, and a processing plant with a nominal capacity of 200 t/h. The mine was opened in 2008 but was subsequently placed on care and maintenance. Following its acquisition of Lerala in 2014 from Mantle Diamonds, KDL’s Botswana subsidiary, Lerala Diamond Mi ne s L imi ted ( Le ra l a ) , engaged Consulmet to redesign sections of the processing plant to facilitate improved dia- mond recovery and throughput reliability. Open-pit mining by the mining con- tractor, Basil Read Botswana, began in early April 2016 in the K3 kimberlite pipe. During the quarter, Basil Read hauled 44 000 tonnes of stockpiled ore to the ROM pad, mined and hauled 191 000 tonnes of ore to the ROM pad and hauled 148 000 tonnes of low grade ore to the low grade stockpile area. According to Kimberley Diamonds, mining operations have proved more than capable of sustaining a consistent feed

Kimberlite ore from the primary crusher at Lerala being fed into the new primary scrubber (photo: Kimberley Diamonds).

been slower than anticipated as a number of constraints to the process flow and effi- ciency of the plant have been identified. These are being systematically rectified and this work will continue into the first quarter of 2017. 

to the processing plant as it continues to ramp up production. Commissioning of the processing plant commenced early in the quarter, and pro- duction began immediately thereafter. However, the ramp up of the plant has

Garnet separation plant commissioned ASX-listed Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC) reports that its South African subsidiary, Minerals Sands Resources (SA) Pty Ltd (MSR), has completed the installation and commissioning of the Garnet Separation Plant (GSP) at its Torminmineral sands mine, located on South Africa’s west coast 400 km north of Cape Town. The GSP has been installed at the front

of the existing Secondary Concentrate Plant (SCP). It is expected to increase the non-mag- netic zircon/rutile feed grade to the SCP by removing the garnet fraction from the Heavy Minerals Concentrate prior to the SCP. This, in turn, will allow a higher grade non-magnetic concentrate tobe fed to the existingmagnetic circuit, thereby increasing overall final zircon/ rutile concentrate production. 

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August 2016  MODERN MINING  5