Namakwa Full Scale Production in 2011
July 20, 10 by Edahn Golan
Namakwa Diamonds Limited expects to full scale mining activities at its African mines in 2011, the company said Tuesday. This is taking place while the company is seeing an increase in polished diamond prices and strong demand for rough.
In Lesotho, Namakwa's mine is schedule to be in pre-production in January 2011 and start commercial production in September 2011. The miner said it already produced a significant proportion of top white gem and commercial white clean goods, with several fancy colors and Type IIA D flawless diamonds. The largest diamond recovered to date weighed more than 16 carats.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the company said it is ahead of schedule to start production during 2011. Pricing for the company’s DRC production "remains firm" at more than $100 per carat.
In South Africa, production in the four months ending June 30, totaled 13,329 carats, the company reported.
Namakwa sold 181,996 carats of rough diamonds in the first six months of fiscal 2010 at an average price of $139 p/c.