Modern Mining August 2018

MINING News

First fresh kimberlite ore intersected at Bellsbank

parable with Sedibeng. Frontier says that an indepen- dent Competent Person’s Report on Bellsbank has been prepared by Stephen Henry le Roux of SLR Consulting and has confirmed the presence of a kimberlite pipe deposit, approximately 0,35 ha in size with a possible fissure exten- sion to the north and south, and with an estimated grade of 10 to 30 cpht. The current ongoing starter pit development by Frontier is at a depth of 22 m and, according to drilling results, diamondiferous calcretised kimberlite is expected from 20,3 m down to 27,3 m, fol- lowed by a coherent (hypabyssal) kimberlite downwards. Once bulk sampling is completed, a resource (including in-situ grade and diamond value) needs to be estimated for the Bellsbank pipe.

The Bellsbank material will be treated through the recently completed, dual-purpose tailings and bulk sample processing plant at Sedibeng, which is seen here (photo: Frontier Diamonds).

Mineralogical work has shown that the kimberlite is a macrocrystic, hypabyssal, Group II type and very similar to the kim- berlite of the fissure mines at Bellsbank. The pipe also appears to have narrow linear extensions to the north-east and south-west as seen on both the magnetic and gravity data. The geophysical response and orientation of this feature suggests a probable fissure system. A follow-up CPR has been commis- sioned to consider the results of the next 10 m bench blast. Discussing the completion of the CPR and recent activities at Bellsbank, Frontier’s CEO, Jan Louw, said: “We are excited to announce to our stakehold- ers the release of the CPR from SLR Consulting as well as the first intersection of fresh kimberlite material during blast hole drilling. We are now in a position to rapidly access the primary orebody and conduct a proper bulk sample, fol- lowed by processing of this material at our new Sedibeng dual-purpose plant. This will enable a detailed economic assessment of the Bellsbank pipe, with the CPR also allowing us to leverage all historic and current exploration data into this exercise. We look forward to reporting the next round of results from Bellsbank once complete.” 

ASX-listed Frontier Diamonds has reported the intersection of the first fresh kimberlite at the Bellsbank kimberlite pipe explo- ration project during blast hole drilling. Bellsbank is situated 10 km from Frontier’s existing 74 %-owned Sedibeng diamond mine in the Northern Cape, located 110 km north-west of Kimberley. The uncalcretised kimberlite material was intersected at a depth of 27 m below surface. The exploration pit currently being mined at Bellsbank has been designed to extract a minimum bulk sample of 100 kt

of this fresh kimberlite material. Frontier says that processing of this material should commence shortly. The material will be treated at a rate of approximately 20 kt per month through the recently completed, dual-purpose tail- ings and bulk sample processing plant at Sedibeng. The biggest stone recovered from an earlier plant commissioning sample taken from shallower, calcretised Bellsbank material was 1,45 carats. The quality of the Bellsbank diamonds appears readily com- Refining (CPR) from the Colorado School of Mines. He has significant copper process- ing and mining experience in large scale open-pit and underground operations, having served in various management roles for companies such as Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc (in the DRC), Phelps Dodge Mining Company, Anglo American Chile and Lundin Mining Corporation. He also recently served as CEO of Cupric Africa, which is developing the Khoemacau copper/silver project in the Kalahari Copperbelt of Botswana. 

Katanga Mining appoints Chief Operating Officer TSX-listed Katanga Mining has appointed Samuel Rasmussen as Chief Operating Officer of the company. Katanga’s assets are located at Kolwezi in the DRC and include the Kamoto underground mine and KOV open-pit mine, providing sulphide and oxide ores respectively; and the Kamoto concentrator and Luilu metallurgical plant for the onsite production of refined copper and cobalt. Katanga also has a number of other mines and plants.

Rasmussen holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum

10  MODERN MINING  August 2018