Modern Mining January 2015

DIAMONDS

the work including 5,8 km of new road align- ment which takes the road around the RSF and also enhances safety. Although a mining contractor for Liqhobong has not yet been appointed, Firestone is talking to Maseru-based Matekane Mining Investment Company (MMIC), which operates one of the largest fleets of earthmoving equipment in Lesotho and which is the mining contractor at Letšeng. MMIC has worked for Firestone in the past and is thus well acquainted with the Liqhobong site. “We are currently redoing the Whittle optimsation of the pit and revising the mine plan,” says Brown. “Once these tasks have been completed, we’ll be in a position to finalise a mining contract.” Finally, what is the upside for Liqhobong in terms of mine life? “When we get to pit bottom we will only have mined about 60 % of the known 29 million-carat resource in and below the open pit,” Brown responds. “Apart from this, we have holes down to 760 m and we’re still in kimberlite, so there is scope to grow the resource. Clearly an extension of mine life is possible via either a fourth cut in the open pit – which would involve some formidable strip- ping of material – or we could transform into an underground mine. Obviously, we’ll do the necessary trade off studies at the appropriate time to assess whether and how we should proceed. But this decision is years away. In the meantime, we have a world-class kimber- lite project to deliver and are totally focused on this task, which will result in Firestone emerging as a significant mid-tier diamond producer.” Photos courtesy of Firestone Diamonds

been removed by converting all the contracts to fixed prices. As of late November, when Modern Mining spoke to Brown, the project was on time and within budget with 460 people already on site (this number will rise to around 800 in 2015) and over 200 pieces of earthmoving and construction equipment deployed. Work on the main plant terraces, the accommoda- tion terraces and the RSF was well underway. Construction of the plant will start in Q1 2015 with the C2 commissioning scheduled for Q1 2016 and C3 commissioning for Q2 2016. To ensure that Liqhobong is implemented smoothly, Brown has selected as Chief Project Officer one of South Africa’s most experienced project managers in the diamond mining field – Glenn Black. He was appointed in February 2014. Like Brown, he enjoyed a 20-year career with De Beers, during which he worked on major projects in Namibia, South Africa (the Voorspoed mine, among others), Canada and Botswana. He reportedly successfully deliv- ered nine of the largest and most complex projects undertaken during this period by De Beers. Comments Brown: “Glenn and I go back a long way and from the moment I became involved with Firestone I had him earmarked as our Project Manager.” One of the challenges presented by Lesotho’s kimberlites is their remote location high in the Maloti mountains. While this does complicate logistics, it probably should be pointed out that Liqhobong is accessible via the asphalt-surfaced road leading to the Katse Dam, with only the last few kilometres being on gravel. The gravel road accessing the site is being upgraded, with

Looking up the Liqhobong Valley towards the tempo- rary site accommodation and the RSF.

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January 2015  MODERN MINING  61