Antares gains diamond properties

Antares Mining & Exploration (ANZ-T) has signed an agreement with South African-based Randgold covering the latter’s 50% interest in the Witkrans diamond property and its 100% interest in the Kafferskraal diamond property. Both are about 120 km west of Johannesburg in the Ventersdorp district.

Antares will hold the prospecting rights to the Witkrans property for three years. At the time of a production decision, mineral rights will pass to Antares from Randgold and the former will pay the latter a 5% royalty on the gross value of diamond sales from Randgold’s half-interest. The same agreement applies to the Kafferskraal property.

Cutting through the 3,856-ha Witkrans property is the Vetpan-Hartebeeslaagte alluvial diamond deposit, which was mined extensively on neighbouring properties and, to date, has produced 42,160 carats.

Vetpan-Hartebeeslaagte comprises a 7-km strike length and ranges in width from 100 to 200 metres.

There has been little to no production on the property since diamonds were first discovered there in the late 1920s.

The 2,098-ha Kafferskraal property, 25 km west of Witkrans, is on the so-called Wildfontein diamond run, which produced more than 86,000 carats between 1904 and 1984.