Firestone Diamonds To Commission New Plant

Goitseone Kgopana
Correspondent | Monday June 15, 2009 00:00

Speaking at the Botswana Resource Sector Conference at the GICC last Wednesday, the company's Chief Geologist, Polite Khutjwe, said it was putting all its resources behind its BK11 diamond project in order to begin production on schedule in June next year.

He said Firestone is also ready to move one of the plants from a previous project in South Africa to Botswana. The plant, which has a production capacity of 1.5 metric tonnes per annum, has operating costs of $6.50 per tonne.

Firestone Diamonds intends to focus on BK11, which lies four kilometers from African Diamonds' controversial AK6. BK11 has seen much progress already, with two production phases completed involving 6300 metres of core drilling and up to 900 tonnes of kimberlite sampled with grades of 9 to 5cpht and $175 per carat.

Explaining these figures, Khutjwe said that typical kimberlite is 20 to 50 percent industrial, which is generally poor quality, adding that BK11 has only a small fraction of industrial diamonds.

BK11 is expected to complete its third phase of bulk sampling during the second and third quarters of this year. This phase includes the 20 000-tonne bulk sample trench and construction of 25tph pilot plant to be commissioned in June. Bulk sampling and treatment are to commence on July 1 this year while the results will be announced in September.

Kutjwe said Firestone chose Botswana because the country is the world's largest producer of diamonds and for its favourable geology, good political climate and low economic threshold of major kimberlites. The company is looking at US$13 million in profits this year if the project comes on stream as planned.

BK 11 is not Firestone's only project to benefit Botswana in the future.

There is BK16, which was sampled by De Beers in the 1990s and contains high value diamonds.

Firestones has a 87.5 percent interest in the project.

BK16 has similar resource potential as BK11 with an estimated value of $200per carat. 'It is not different from what we have done in the Bonte Koe toll treatment project in South Africa that was completed in time and gave good returns,' he said.

Kutjwe described the Tsabong kimberlite field as 'the most attractive large scale kimberlite project in the market'.

According to their research findings, the Tsabong field indicates similar geological settings to those of Jwaneng Mine.

These developments come at a time when Botswana is technically in a recession that has  seen its diamond revenues decline by half.