Name of the Project
Venetia Underground Project (VUP).

Location
Venetia mine in Limpopo, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
De Beers Consolidated Mines, a subsidiary of Anglo American.

Project Description
The Venetia mine, which officially opened on August 14, 1992, is currently the biggest producer of diamonds in South Africa.

The mine is an openpit operation; however, following shareholder approval, development work began in late 2013 to build the new underground mining operation beneath the current operating openpit. It is currently the biggest diamond mine development under way anywhere in the world.

The new five-million-carat-a-year underground mine is expected to treat about 131-million tonnes of material containing an estimated 9-million carats. Scheduled inferred resources (39.3-million tonnes) constitute 25% (23.6-million carats) of the estimated carats. This will extend the life of the Venetia mine to 2045 and replace the openpit production from 2022. Venetia will, therefore, remain South Africa’s biggest diamond mine.

The Venetia project comprises the K01 and K02 orebodies. Both kimberlites extend below surface, enabling De Beers to mine to depths of up to 1 000 m. There are indications that K01 extends below 1 000 m, and De Beers may explore options that extend the underground operation’s life beyond 2045.

The current mining solution for the underground project will use sublevel caving to extract material from both orebodies. Further optimisation studies are being completed to determine whether the K02 orebody should be mined using a block cave mining methodology.

Potential Job Creation
During construction, employment will peak at about 2 200 personnel. The workforce currently comprises a total of 1 800 people.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
De Beers plans to invest about $2.1-billion in the VUP until 2026. Anglo American noted in its results for the six months ended June 30, 2021, that $1.2-billion remained to be spent.

Planned Start/End Date
Openpit mining at Venetia is planned to end in the second half of 2022, with the transition to underground mining starting thereafter.

The underground operation is expected to deliver its first ore at Venetia in 2023.

Latest Developments
The execution of the VUP continues to progress as the mine continues to transition to underground operations.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Murray & Roberts Cementation (development of underground mine); and Redpath Australia (development of the underground mine with the De Beers team, working as the integrated owners team).

Worley, BMH, BBE, ABB, Grinaker and Louwill are among the contractors involved in the project.

Contact Details for Project Information
De Beers Group Managed Operations senior communications manager Jackie Mapiloko, tel +27 11 374 7173 or email jackie.mapiloko@debeersgroup.com.