Kimberly Diamonds Ltd (KDL) has received the first independent valuation of its 100% owned Lerala Diamond Mine in Botswana, which values the mine significantly higher that KDL’s previously announced in-house valuation.
Prepared by global mineral resource consultancy Venmyn Deloitte, the new valuation puts the Lerala Diamond Mine value at $A105 million, an increase of 24% over KDL’s in-house valuation of A$85 million.
The consultancy also extended the planned Life of Mine (LOM) from 7 years to 9 years.
“The increased valuation is driven largely by the upgrade to the Lerala Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve that was announced by KDL on 11 January 2016, along with decreased costs negotiated within the mining contract signed with Basil Read Botswana (Pty) Ltd, a weaker Australian dollar assumed over the life of the project and Venmyn Deloitte’s decision to place a value on Inferred Resources that currently fall outside the LOM plan,” the company said in a statement.
The Lerala Mine is located in north-east Botswana, 34km north of the Martin’s Drift Border Post with South Africa. The mine comprises a cluster of five diamondiferous kimberlite pipes totalling 6.66 hectares in size, together with a 230 tonnes per hour processing and recovery facility.
Lerala has a 15-year fully permitted mining license covering an area of 21.86 km². The mine is scheduled to commence production in April 2016, subject to finalisation of funding. According to KDL, first diamond sale is scheduled for June 2016.
