Karowe Mine to generate P1.4bn in 2014

Boitshepo Majube | Wednesday January 15, 2014 16:03

 

In its 2014 operating outlook, the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed company said it is upgrading and building a plant at Karowe to improve large diamond recovery following continued occurrence of exceptional stones and to enable sustainable processing of harder ore in the south lobe.  Construction is scheduled to begin soon and finish later this year at a projected cost of between $45-$50 million. A sustaining capital expenditure of $3.5 million is expected.

William Lamb, president and chief executive officer, said in 2014, it is expected that the scheduled plant upgrade, largely funded from the company’s 2013 year end cash balance will be completed and brought online to deliver sustainable diamond recovery for production of 2.5 million tonnes per annum for the remainder of the mine life. “This upgrade will also include processes to ensure the safe recovery of the value driving large and exceptional diamonds of Karowe,” he said. Lamb added that the company is focused on building on its strong financial position through operational optimisation and focused cost management.

Karowe is forecast to increase waste mined during 2014, in line with the original feasibility mine plan, as it opens up the full extent of the south lobe. “The Karowe mine plan, therefore, expects more that 10 million tonnes of waste will be stripped and stockpiled or used to expand the tailings in 2014,” the company directors have stated.  However, the company forecasts cash costs per tonne of ore treated to be between $31-$33 per tonne as compared to a 2013 forecast of $23 per tonne. “The forecast increase in operating cash costs is largely due to the additional 4.5 million tonnes of waste mined during the year,” the directors say.   

They predict that processing costs will be marginally higher following the change to the process plant facilities to improve large diamond recovery and process harder material from the south lobe.  The company said as of December 2013, there was 5.5 million tonnes of waste removed to allow for the extraction of 3.9 million tonnes of ore, out of which 2.4 million tonnes were processed, yielding 441,000 carats of diamonds. “A total of 439,000 carats have been sold in 2013 with year-end inventory of 67,000 carats of diamonds. The remaining, low-grade ore, has been stockpiled for treatment at the end of mine life,” the directors say.