JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused gemstone producer Richland Resources was fully committed to bringing the Nardoo Sapphire project, in Queensland, Australia, back into production during the first quarter of next year, Richland CEO Bernard Olivier said on Wednesday.
Richland acquired Nardoo, which has a measured resource of 109-million carats, in exchange for A$1.18-million in cash and about 18-million Richland shares, in June.
“The remainder of 2014 shall be an important time for Richland as we move Nardoo Sapphire towards commissioning,” Olivier stated.
Further, he pointed out that the company had, during the second quarter of the year, seen improvements at its tanzanite-mining subsidiary TanzaniteOne Mining, while the Tanzania government continued to remove illegal miners from the company’s licence area, following Richland’s decision to restrict investment into the country.
TanzaniteOne, increased its production to 1.01-million carats during the second quarter of the year, up from 754 585 ct produced during the same period last year.
During the quarter, 6 494 t of material was processed with recovery at an average grade of 156 ct/t.
Further, during the quarter, the Merelani tanzanite mine, which is a 50:50 joint venture between TanzaniteOne and the Tanzania State Mining Corporation, contributed an estimated $2.8-million in revenue.
“The quality of the tanzanite produced remained low due to the continuing lack of high-quality production areas available to be mined by TanzaniteOne as a direct result of illegal mining activities in the Block C licence area,” Richland noted.
The company also achieved $600 000 in additional revenues during the three-month period from its retail and beneficiation operations.