Image credit: Lucara Diamond
Lucara Diamond has renewed its Karowe mining licence in Botswana for a period of 25 years, securing mining rights to 2046 and marks a critical step in the formal sanction of the Karowe underground expansion project.
"The receipt of our mining licence renewal and extension to 2046 is an important milestone for the Karowe underground expansion project, paving the way for the completion of a supplemental debt financing and full project sanction later this year," said company chief executive Eira Thomas.
"Lucara is grateful for the confidence and support demonstrated by the Government of Botswana as we work to expand our operations at Karowe underground, for the benefit of the Government and the people of Botswana together with Lucara's shareholders."
The Karowe underground expansion project, which continued to advance in 2020 under a revised $22 million budget in response to COVID-19, focused on time critical-path items, detailed engineering and design, and limited earthworks and geotechnical studies, said Lucara.
The company also said that it would continue to explore debt financing options for the underground expansion for those amounts which are expected to exceed its cash flow from operations during the construction period.
The underground expansion programme has an estimated capital cost of $514 million and five years of development, with first ore anticipated from underground in 2026.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
