Firestone Diamonds one step away from completing Lesotho diamond mine

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds has “one more item” left before its one-million-carat-a-year Liqhobong project, in Lesotho, enters production in the fourth quarter.

During a media briefing, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, CEO Stuart Brown said the company had around 90 000 t of ore stockpiled and ready to be processed, adding that the final recovery sorthouse would be completed in the coming week.

He outlined that the company had “just about finished” all the civil and earthworks, erecting the processing plant in just under a year. “Most of the processing plant has now been completely cladded and the conveyor belts are done,” he pointed out.

While remaining optimistic about the diamond mine, set in the hills of the Maluti mountains, Brown noted that there were still some risks to bringing the project on line, including the matter of the completion of a second return water dam and the risk of failing critical equipment during commissioning.

“If we do not complete [the project] before the start of the rainy season, there is some risk to storing water. Our contractor is pleasingly ahead of schedule and working 24 hours [a day] to complete [the project] by mid-November,” Brown said.

“It has been a fantastic team effort,” he enthused.

Firestone expects to hold its first diamond sales in Antwerp, Belgium, in January 2017.

The mine is set to deliver between 1.8-million and 2-million tons before June 2017.

The mine, which besides the potential for large stones, also has a high incidence of fancy yellow stones, and is expected to add about 5% to Lesotho’s gross domestic product. It currently employs about 795 people.