Namdeb Opens New Plant to Aid Marine Operations

Namibian state diamond firm Namdeb has inaugurated a new plant in L?deritz to assist marine diamond contractors in processing diamonds.

Called the Contractors Treatment Facility (CTF), it will aid marine contractors in processing diamondiferous gravels.

 

Namdeb bought the plant to continue with mining and treatment activities to recover sought-after diamonds after the plant was shut down by its previous owner, Windvogel.

"After several years of using the Windvogel plant, a number of problems emerged, due to aging equipment as well as the capacity to accommodate more contractors,” said Managing Director of Namdeb, Inge Zaamwani, adding a capital investment of N$15 million was approved to build a new plant during late 2002.

Zaamwani said contract mining was a vital part of Namdeb's strategic plan and together with De Beers’ Marine Namibia's production, contract mining ac-counts for more than 50 percent of Namdeb's total production.

"Beach and marine contractors produced over 20,000 carats in 2003 with output expected to increase to 30,000 carats per annum by 2006," she said.

She said the new plant would greatly enhance recovery efficiencies thus bringing the recovery process in line with Namdeb's diamond value management philosophy. Diamonds valued at 13,000 carats were produced after the upgrading of the plant.

Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Nickey Iyambo, said the inefficiency of the previous plant in recovering and protecting recovered products had been a concern to his ministry.

"We are today witnessing the beginning of a new era for shallow miners in the L?deritz area," he said.

Contract mining was introduced in 1990 to exploit deposits in relatively remote parts of the coastline, which were of marginal importance to large miners such as Namdeb but which could be mined profitably by smaller operators.