Namakwa Plans to Start Production By End of the Year
February 20, 03
The Australian mining company, Namakwa Resources, is planning to start production at its West Coast diamond project in South Africa by the end of the year, subject to completion of a positive feasibility study around May and mining approvals.
The proposed development would have a low capital cost of about $594,300 as Namakwa already owns a dense media separation plant which will be used for mining, concentrating and diamond recovery. Karl Simich, Namakwa's chairman said that the company would only need $1,783,000 for working and development capital.
The forecast is to produce 70,000-80,000 carats a year for about five years and Namakwa is hoping that its ongoing exploration projects will help extend the mine life to 10 years.
Namakwa has recovered a total of 13,560 diamonds weighing 1,325 carats from a bulk sampling work since mid-2002. Simich added that the company's dense media separation plant could be upgraded to reach its capacity of 500,000 tons per year.