Photo by: Reuters
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Merlin Diamonds has revealed plans to restart its Merlin diamond mine, in the Northern Territory, in October.
The junior said on Monday that the decision to restart operations followed approval from the Department of Mines and Energy for the mining plan.
To date, Merlin has procured the necessary items to restart operations, and has started to pump water from the Kaye pit to prepare for mining.
The company noted that significant infrastructure was still in place at the Merlin mine and little work was needed to refurbish the project, meaning that capital costs would remain relatively low.
The Merlin mine is located south of Borroloola and comprises 14 kimberlite pipes. Nine of these pipes were subject to openpit mining over a five-year period starting in 1998. The operations ceased in 2003 having produced 507 000 ct of diamonds, and Merlin acquired the project from mining giant Rio Tinto in 2004.