DIAMOND PAGE — Treatment plant nears completion at Klipspringer

Design work on the 100-tonne-per-day kimberlite treatment plant on the Klipspringer project in South Africa’s Northern Transvaal Procince is well-advanced and on track for completion in early December.

SouthernEra Resources (SUF-T) expects all necessary equipment to be on site by year-end in preparation for startup in March 1998. Fabrication of the structural steel is progressing, and the dense media separation (DMS) module is being assembled.

Construction is under way, though the schedule was postponed by one week because additional blasting was required for the rocky terrain. To compensate for the delay, more workers are being mobilized to the site.

Mechanical construction is scheduled to begin Nov. 23 in the DMS and recovery areas of the plant. Installation of piping and electrical equipment will begin Jan. 13.

SouthernEra has located sufficient borehole water to meet the demands of the plant, and contracts have been awarded for the supply of a pumping system.

Current supply equates to greater than 150 cu. metres per hour; anticipated initial demand is 100 cu. metres per hour. The overall consumption is expected to drop significantly once the plant process has stabilized and water is recovered from the slimes dam.

Storage capacity of 2,800 cu. metres is being established in the vicinity of the boreholes, with a 200-cu.-metre reservoir located at the plant site.

Transfer will be by means of multistage pumping through a 200-mm buried pipeline. The water system will be operational by mid-January.

Additional drilling is being carried out in an attempt to augment current available supply, and water-monitoring programs are being initiated to ensure the availability of a long-term supply.

Contracts have been awarded and construction has commenced for the installation of a main overhead power line and extensions to the plant site and water pump station. Completion is scheduled for mid-January.

On the exploration front, initial evaluation drilling and sampling on the M1 kimberlite pipe has been completed. To date, 144.6 tonnes have been treated and 491.4 carats recovered, yielding a grade of 340 carats per 100 tonnes.

The average stone size is 0.313 carat.

SoutherEra has defined an inferred resource of 685,000 tonnes to a depth of 100 metres, but the pipe is known to continue below 100 metres. Further evaluation sampling and delineation drilling are continuing in order to ascertain feasibility study grades and tonnage.

The average value of the M1 stones is US$142.58 per carat. The highest value is US$156.29, accompanied by an offer to buy the parcel, less a discount of 3%.