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There’s been a flurry of activity in South Africa’s junior diamond sector, with Rockwell Diamonds [JSE:RDI] appointing former African Diamonds MD James Campbell as its new CEO and Trans Hex Group [JSE:TSX] buying De Beers’ Namaqualand division for R225m. However, Trans Hex CEO Llewellyn Delport must be wishing his former controlling shareholder – Johann Rupert, through Remgro [JSE:REM] – had maintained his links, given the deals Rupert has just struck with De Beers.
Remgro unbundled its 29% stake in Trans Hex in September 2010, but Rupert has now got back into diamond mining through deals struck by Luxembourg-listed Reinet Investments. He’s teaming up with mining entrepreneurs Chris Potgieter and Chris Kimber to recover diamonds from the dumps at the former Jagersfontein mine. Rupert will also mine alluvial diamonds at De Beers’ Rooipoort farm near Kimberley.
At full output the new Jagersfontein plant is expected to produce up to 28 000 carats/month at an average value of US$146/carat, generating revenues of around $50m/year from the high grade dumps.
Rooipoort is a 40 000ha farm near Kimberley that controls 32km of riverfront along the Vaal that hasn’t yet been mined.
The reason for that is De Beers has owned Rooipoort since 1893 and where it allocated top priority to conservation because the farm is on an ecological par with many of SA’s national parks. New mining legislation means De Beers can’t avoid mining any longer and has brought in someone with impeccable “green” credentials, given the long-standing association of the Rupert family with the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Namaqualand looks a far more marginal proposition: there are huge environmental legacy issues to be dealt with.
The “greenies” are already on Delport’s case, with Conservation South Africa demanding it be allowed to take part in the environmental review and the transfer of the mining rights.
Rockwell Diamonds has headhunted James Campbell to replace John Bristow as CEO. Bristow resigned in December. Campbell joins Rockwell just as it has launched a fund-raising drive to pull in around C$35m to pay down debt and fund the development of its newest mine – Tirisano – in North West province. That looks like a “big ask” given the poor performance of Rockwell’s share price over the past 18 months.
Campbell comments: “It’s very early days for me to talk about what needs to happen at Rockwell, but I think its share price has been drifting because the company has a history of not meeting its production targets. I like the team at Rockwell and I can see significant upside there in terms of the current operations. We need to demonstrate to the market we can achieve our production targets and it’s very important we bring the new Tirisano mine into production as planned.”
DiamondCorp will also soon be looking to raise money following the intersection of its Lace kimberlite pipe by the new decline shaft at a depth of 260m, so accessing the pipe below the previous working levels at the mine, which was closed in 1931. An initial 30 000t bulk sample is now being mined and will be treated through the re-commissioned recovery plant to determine an indicative mining grade for the operation, as well as an average carat value for the contained diamonds.
CEO Paul Loudon says: “The combination of grade and carat value will determine the economics of mining the Lace kimberlite.” Loudon reckons around £10m will be needed to pay off debt and complete the mine.
Remgro unbundled its 29% stake in Trans Hex in September 2010, but Rupert has now got back into diamond mining through deals struck by Luxembourg-listed Reinet Investments. He’s teaming up with mining entrepreneurs Chris Potgieter and Chris Kimber to recover diamonds from the dumps at the former Jagersfontein mine. Rupert will also mine alluvial diamonds at De Beers’ Rooipoort farm near Kimberley.
At full output the new Jagersfontein plant is expected to produce up to 28 000 carats/month at an average value of US$146/carat, generating revenues of around $50m/year from the high grade dumps.
Rooipoort is a 40 000ha farm near Kimberley that controls 32km of riverfront along the Vaal that hasn’t yet been mined.
The reason for that is De Beers has owned Rooipoort since 1893 and where it allocated top priority to conservation because the farm is on an ecological par with many of SA’s national parks. New mining legislation means De Beers can’t avoid mining any longer and has brought in someone with impeccable “green” credentials, given the long-standing association of the Rupert family with the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Namaqualand looks a far more marginal proposition: there are huge environmental legacy issues to be dealt with.
The “greenies” are already on Delport’s case, with Conservation South Africa demanding it be allowed to take part in the environmental review and the transfer of the mining rights.
Rockwell Diamonds has headhunted James Campbell to replace John Bristow as CEO. Bristow resigned in December. Campbell joins Rockwell just as it has launched a fund-raising drive to pull in around C$35m to pay down debt and fund the development of its newest mine – Tirisano – in North West province. That looks like a “big ask” given the poor performance of Rockwell’s share price over the past 18 months.
Campbell comments: “It’s very early days for me to talk about what needs to happen at Rockwell, but I think its share price has been drifting because the company has a history of not meeting its production targets. I like the team at Rockwell and I can see significant upside there in terms of the current operations. We need to demonstrate to the market we can achieve our production targets and it’s very important we bring the new Tirisano mine into production as planned.”
DiamondCorp will also soon be looking to raise money following the intersection of its Lace kimberlite pipe by the new decline shaft at a depth of 260m, so accessing the pipe below the previous working levels at the mine, which was closed in 1931. An initial 30 000t bulk sample is now being mined and will be treated through the re-commissioned recovery plant to determine an indicative mining grade for the operation, as well as an average carat value for the contained diamonds.
CEO Paul Loudon says: “The combination of grade and carat value will determine the economics of mining the Lace kimberlite.” Loudon reckons around £10m will be needed to pay off debt and complete the mine.
