Wrangle over AK6 resurfaces

"We hope that uncertainty regarding the AK6 project will be removed after the July board meeting," the CEO of African Diamonds, James Campbell, said at the two-day premier mining conference at the GICC (Gaborone International Convention Centre) on Wednesday.Infact, the wrangle over AK6 - the only hard rock diamond discovery in recent years - first entered the public arena at the same conference last year when Campbell threw the first salvo by announcing to mining industry leaders that African Diamonds was taking De Beers to court because of what he called deliberate stalling by the diamond giant.

BSE and AIM-listed African Diamonds successfully sought a court interdict to prevent De Beers from applying for a retention licence over AK6. De Beers had proposed to delay the project because of power supply interruptions which it said rendered the project unviable.