28
MODERN MINING
July 2014
EVENTS
Botswana –
diamonds and
T
he presentation on Lerala was de-
livered by Noel Halgreen, the new
MD of ASX-listed Kimberley Dia-
monds Limited (KDL). Earlier this
year, KDL – which acquired Lerala
from Mantle Diamonds – said it would delay
the recommissioning of the mine “until the
appropriate funding is available, either from
operating cash flow or external sources.” It has
now reversed this decision, as Halgreen (ap-
pointed just recently as MD in succession to
Lee-Anne de Bruin) made it clear that KDL
regarded the re-opening of the operation as a
priority and had approved capital expenditure
of A$14,7 million for this purpose.
The Martin’s Drift kimberlites – which
Lerala exploits – were originally discovered by
De Beers in the early 1990s. The project was
later picked up by Australian junior DiamonEx,
which developed the present infrastructure at
the site. DiamonEx mined at Lerala from April
2008 to January 2009 but was unable to sus-
tain operations given the poor diamond prices
in the immediate aftermath of the global finan-
cial crash. The mine passed into the hands of
Mantle in 2011, which operated it for several
months in 2012, producing just over 73 000
carats of diamonds. Mantle though, like its pre-
decessor, was also forced to suspend operations
and in September 2013 it was announced that
KDL would buy the mine.
Given the failure by two successive
In last month’s issue we reported on the recent Botswana Resource Sector Conference, held in
Gaborone on 10 and 11 June, focusing in particular on presentations on the country’s emerging
copper mining sector. We continue our coverage of the conference below, looking at developments
at two of the country’s diamond mines, Lerala and Karowe, and also covering the Xaudum iron
ore project and Botswana’s coal resources. With diamond production, the backbone of Botswana’s
economy, having probably now peaked, the country needs a more broadly based mining sector and
copper, coal and iron ore are the obvious candidates to provide the necessary diversification.
