(IDEX Online News) – Rockwell Diamonds Inc. has given an update on its aim of increasing monthly production volumes in the Middle Orange River region to 500,000 m3 per month in a bid to improve quarterly earnings through the increased recovery of large, high-value diamonds.

 

The miner has built two new mines, the Saxendrift Hill Complex which is in production, and Niewejaarskraal which is in production ramp up, as a key part of the new plan.

 

The company invested $3.6 million for the development of the two mines. Rockwell is also operating Bulk X-ray technology in both a concentration and recovery mode rather than less efficient and more costly pans or DMS technology.

 

CEO and President James Campbell said: "Rockwell has recently delivered on several notable milestones towards our medium term core business strategy to increase alluvial production volumes in the Middle Orange River region to 500,000 m3 per month. We have developed two new, internally funded mines, demonstrating our capability to bring new production capacity on line by making use of fit-for-purpose technology that is suited to each deposit's specific geology and by chiefly re-using existing assets. These will bring our average monthly production volumes on the Middle Orange to 360,000 m3, putting us on track towards our medium term target and also leading to improved quarterly earnings."

 

"Saxendrift Hill Complex is an expansion of the operations at our flagship Saxendrift Mine, where we continue to deliver a strong performance. At this new mine, which is now in production, we pioneered the implementation of the Bulk X-ray technology in the full production environment, where we are using it in both a concentration and recovery mode. We are delighted with these results, which showed a 40-percent increase in grade when we processed Saxendrift Extension gravels in parallel through the Bulk X-ray and the pan plant system at Saxendrift during the month of July 2013."