PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Kimberley Diamonds has awarded an openpit mining contract at its Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana.
The company said on Thursday that the mining contract, awarded to Basil Read Botswana, would cover an initial five years of mining and had an anticipated value of about A$47-million.
Basil Read was scheduled to mobilise staff and equipment to the Lerala project in February while mining would start in March.
Once in production, the mine was forecast to have a life of some seven years, treating 1.4-million tonnes of ore a year and producing an average of 357 000 ct/y.