Gope project springs back to life

UK mining house Gem Diamonds acquired the Gope project from De Beers in 2007 and, under a new retention licence, spent most of 2008 updating various technical and geological studies, as well as successfully conducting a Social Environmental Impact Assessment.

Plans for Gope were frozen last year when the global recession sank diamond demand by up to 60 percent while eroding project funding. Gem Diamonds - prioritising its operating mines - placed the Gope project on "care and maintenance" last June, pending a change in diamond sector fundamentals.