Botswana Diamonds, which completed a preliminary kimberlite assessment on its Thorny River diamond prospect in South Africa, says the projected volume of kimberlitic material in the River, River Extension and the immediate area is now believed to be about 2 million tonnes.
“The estimated kimberlite volume in the River area is considerably better than expected. Botswana Diamonds will now determine the mining potential,” said company chairperson John Teeling.
“Let me put this in context. The 2 million tonnes is almost twice the size of the nearby Marsfontein deposit.”
The nearby former De Beers / SouthernEra Marsfontein mined volume was in the order of 1 million tonnes.
Botswana Diamonds said the volume estimate was determined based on an external volumetric assessment and includes only areas on strike to drilling to date.
Meanwhile, the company said that four potential further blows were identified on the Thorny River property and will be defined with detailed ground geophysics and drilling.
“We have identified other small potential blows which could further increase the kimberlite volume. This enhances the potential in developing a ‘hub and spoke’ mining project,” said Teeling.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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