De Beers Group chief executive Philippe Mellier said his desire is to find a large new diamond resource.
“My dream is to find a big new mine. If I could find another Jwaneng, I would be very happy,” he was quoted by Mining Weekly as saying.
De Beers had been searching for a new diamond mine in the past 15 years, albeit unsuccessfully.
It had no option but to go deeper.
The group would in the next two months decide whether or not to spend $2.1 billion on going underground at South Africa’s flagship Venetia diamond mine.
“I hope that it will be approved,” said Mellier. “It’s going to be a huge project and it’s going to show very strong commitment, despite the fact the resource environment is down. We’re talking a very, very big amount of money to sink a shaft a kilometre down and it will show our commitment to South Africa.”
Venetia mine was South Africa’s largest producer of diamonds and if it goes underground the life of the mine would be extended to 2046.
The two largest of its 12 kimberlite pipes were currently being mined in a single opencast operation.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
