Modern Mining February 2018

MINING News

Flow of big stones at Lulo continues

Lucapa Diamond Company, listed on the ASX, and its partners, Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, have announced the recovery of more large diamonds from the Lulo dia- mond project in Angola.

Selection of Lulo diamonds from the first sale parcel for 2018 (photo: Lucapa).

The latest recoveries include a 116-carat low-quality diamond and a 43-carat yellow gem, both from Mining Block 8 at Lulo. The 43-carat yellow is the largest coloured gem-quality diamond recovered to date from Lulo, surpassing the 39-carat pink recovered in September 2016. The 116-carat stone was recovered through the XRT large-dia- mond recovery circuit installed at Lulo in late 2016. It is the tenth plus 100-carat diamond recovered to date from Lulo and the second plus 100-carat recovered within the first three weeks of 2018. Though a low-quality boart stone, the 116-carat diamond contin- ues to underline the special large-stone nature and potential of the Lulo diamond project. Lucapa and its partners recently completed the first sale of 2018 of alluvial diamonds from Lulo. The sales of 4 170 carats achieved gross proceeds of US$9,14 million, representing – says Lucapa – an excep- tional average price per carat of US$2 192.  Eight years and US$2,5 billion after Randgold Resources started devel- oping Kibali, the giant gold mine is expected to be in full production this year following the successful commissioning of its underground operation’s integrated automated ore handling and hoisting system. Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow told journalists in Kinshasa recently that the mine was on track to produce its targeted plus 700 000 ounces of gold in 2018, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. Its high level of mechanisation, which features multiple driverless loaders operating with full automation as well as a single haulage drive with a high-strength surface, is believed to be a first for the gold mining industry in Africa. “The past quarter has been a particularly busy one for Kibali. In addition to completing the underground haulage and hoisting sys- tem, the team has settled the processing challenges, improving the recovery while keeping throughput above the plant’s nameplate design level. At the same time, the mine’s conversion to the latest ISO 14001:2015 environmental standard was successfully certified and it readied itself for alignment with the new, and yet to be published, ISO 45001 safety standards,” Bristow said. “All that now still remains to be done is to ramp-up the under- ground production and complete the construction of Azambi, Kibali’s third new hydropower station, which is scheduled to be plugged into the grid by the middle of this year.” Bristow noted that with development expenditure tapering off, Kibali should now be in a position to start repaying its capital loans.  Kibali gold mine on the verge of full production

February 2018  MODERN MINING  15