Name of the Project
Cullinan C-Cut Phase 1 expansion programme

Location
Gauteng Province, South Africa

Project Owner/s
Petra Diamonds (74%), Kago Diamonds (14%) and the Itumeleng Petra Diamonds Employee Share Trust (12%).

Project Description
The Cullinan diamond mine is renowned as a source of large, high-quality gem diamonds, including Type II stones and the world’s most important source of very rare blue diamonds.

As at June 30, 2018, the Cullinan mine contained a world-class gross resource base of 190.3-million carats (including 17.3-million carats in tailings), suggesting it could operate significantly longer than the current mine plan to 2030.

The C-Cut Phase 1 project plans to capitalise on the mine’s resource base. The C-Cut Phase 1 project is planned to contribute an estimated three-million tonnes in the 2019 financial year. A further 700 000 t to one-million tonnes will be sourced predominantly from the CC1E mining area as well as from other B Block tonnes.

Production from the C-Cut cave has been largely concentrated in the south-western area, which covers about 25% of the C-Cut footprint and has produced 75% of the ore to date.

In the 2018 financial year, Cullinan contributed 34% of Petra’s total carat volume, with the new mining blocks, including the C-Cut and the CC1 East, contributing 72% of the mine’s carats.

The current 12-year mine plan will only exploit about 17% of the total indicated resource by volume.
 

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.
 

Latest Developments
Cullinan's run-of-mine (RoM) diamond production increased 30% to 785 444 ct in the first half of the 2019 financial year, from 602 594 ct in the first half of the 2018 financial year. This is owing to a 12% increase in RoM treated to 1.996-million tonnes, from 1.783-million tonnes in the first half the 2018 financial year, as well as an increase in the RoM grade of 16% to 39.3 carats per hundred tonnes, or cpht, from 33.8 cpht in the first half of the 2018 financial year. This increase in volume and grade is a result of the continued ramp-up of production from the C-Cut phase 1 and a reduction in ore mined from old areas with higher waste dilution.

The third and final underground crusher was commissioned in December 2018, delivering increased operational flexibility as mining progresses across the footprint of the cave.  Draw-bell installations across the C-Cut orebody are planned to be completed by September 2019 and will require six to nine months to reach maturity.

The shaft and plant interface at the Cullinan mine are expected to be completed in the first half of the 2020 financial year.
 

Further, the new Cullinan plant is fully operational, meeting design parameters while normal optimisation is ongoing and has a capacity of six-million tonnes a year, comprising four-million tonnes a year run-of-mine (RoM) and two-million tonnes a year of tailings.

In March 2019, three unique diamonds were recovered from the Cullinan mine, demonstrating the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody and the ability of the plant to recover them.

On Budget and on Time?
The project is progressing well and in line with expectations.

Contact Details for Project Information
Petra Diamonds, email investorrelations@petradiamonds.com.