Modern Mining October 2018

MINING News

Re-discovered kimberlites were past producers

State Colony into the Union of South Africa. The result was that per- mission to restart the mines was not granted. These mines were never reopened and their his- tory was lost with land ownership changes over time. Aerial imagery and

ground truthing have partially completed the jigsawwhich has enabled the company to focus its attention on areas within i t s Kopp i e s f on t e i n , Poortjie, Swartrandsdam and Tafelbergsdam prop- erties where historic workings and abandoned equipment are clearly evident. Available archived diamond certificates in respect of limited exploration activities around Tafelsbergsdam issued in 1898 dis- closed recovery of 111 carats of diamonds valued at approximately £93 each – which is estimated by Botswana Diamonds to be in excess of US$300/ct in today’s money. Following the initial document research work and ground truthing, the company has turned to modern science. This started with the taking of ground samples for whole rock geochemistry tests by the Council for Geosciences. The results of these tests and observa- tions confirm the existence of eight kimberlites which exhibit Group 1 kim- berlite geochemistry similar to the larger producing mines of Kimberley and Koffiefontein in the region. The existence

The Swartrandsdam kimberlite, one of the re-discovered Free State kimberlites (photo: Botswana Diamonds).

In an update on its Free State kimberlite exploration project, Botswana Diamonds, which has projects in both South Africa and Botswana and is listed on AIM, reports that further research confirms that some of the Free State kimberlites it has rediscov- ered were diamond producers. The potential of the Free State to host further commercial kimberlites was identi- fied following research in various archives into the history of diamond mining in South Africa. This research found that in addition to the well-documented iconic operations at Jagersfontein, Koffiefontein and Kimberley, a number of smaller dia- mond mines existed both to the east of Bloemfontein and extending west to Kimberley. Research undertaken during a field trip in September this year also found that in addition to the law at the time not requir-

ing formal documentation regarding any diamonds discovered, there was extensive document loss and destruction conse- quent to the Anglo Boer war of 1899-1902. In spite of this, much is still available and there remains considerable anecdotal evi- dence from the time. It was clearly noted that the industry as a whole was active up until the early 1880s, but that “a wave of financial collapse and depression swept over South Africa....”such that ...”even old established diggings like Jagersfontein, Dutoitspan and Bultfontein were partially abandoned and younger [smaller] mines.... were totally deserted”. It is evident – says Botswana Diamonds – that attempts were made to re-open these ‘smaller’ mines in the early 1900s but these were frustrated through bureau- cratic intervention due to conflicting laws in the lead up to the accession by the Free

10  MODERN MINING  October 2018