Letšeng large diamond recoveries reach a record in H1
LSE-listed Gem Diamonds continued to recover large diamonds during the first half of this year, with a record ten diamonds greater than 100 ct recovered, at its Letšeng mine, in Lesotho.
Gem recovered another such diamond in July, which resulted in the highest number of more-than-100 ct diamond recoveries in a single year.
Letšeng sold 61 696 ct of diamonds in the six months to June 30, with 25 diamonds having sold for more than $1-million each, generating revenue of $99.1-million during the period.
Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick noted that the market for Letšeng’s high-quality white rough diamonds remained robust over the period, achieving an average price of $2 742/ct, which is up 33% compared with the average price of $2 061/ct in the first half of 2017.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Letšeng treated 2.5-million tonnes of ore during the six-month period, 59% of which was sourced from the Main pipe and 41% from the Satellite pipe. The balance of the ore, 500 000 t was treated through the Alluvial Ventures contractor plant, of which 54% was sourced from the Main pipe and 46% from low-grade stockpiles.
Waste stripping reduced in line with the long-term mine plan.
A new scrubber shell was successfully installed in Plant 2 during the second quarter of the year. The feed rate into the plant has reverted to normal levels since the shutdown was completed.
The installation of the new shell was a complex operation and took longer than planned, owing to the concrete foundation of the scrubber installation requiring full rehabilitation. Consequently, the shutdown was extended by ten days and is the primary reason for the reduction in tonnage treated during the period.
During the scrubber change out, an initiative to run a bypass conveyer was implemented which mitigated the overall impact of lost tonnages.
As previously announced, Gem lodged an application for the renewal of the Letšeng mining lease with the Prime Minister of Lesotho. It expects the lease to be renewed until 2034.
The terms of the renewed mining lease are currently being negotiated with the
Lesotho mining board.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation