Diamond Fields buys marine mining vessel

Vancouver — Diamond Fields International (DFI-T) has purchased the 68-metre diamond-mining ship MV Anya in a court-ordered auction.

The vessel, which will be renamed the MV Diamond Fields Discoverer, is equipped with twin 24-inch airlifts, a 30 tonne-per-hour dense-media-separating plant, and twin Caterpillar diesel engines. It was built by B.C. Marine Shipbuilders of Vancouver in 1976.

The Anya was used to mine some of Diamond Fields’ offshore Namibian licence areas in 2003 on a contract basis.

Diamond Fields borrowed $1.9 million from Quest Capital (QC-T) to buy the ship. Quest’s loan is secured, and the company will receive 380,000 shares of Diamond Fields as a fee, in addition to interest on the loan. Quest was previously issued 100,000 shares for providing a stand-by guarantee.

Meanwhile, Diamond Fields has reported its diamond count from the Marshal Fork deposit, off the coast of Luderitz, Namibia. Since operations began in June, 52,826 carats have been recovered, 95% of which are gem quality. The haul of gemstones is split equally with partner Samicor Mining Services. Of its allocated 26,413 carats of stones, Diamond Fields has sold 20,799 carats for US$4.4 million, or an average of US$211 per carat, eclipsing the previous year’s stone valuations by 44%. Monthly operational costs totalled US$400,000, and the Namibian government receives 10% of the valuation as a royalty.

The initial mining plan with Samicor has been completed two months ahead of schedule. The Samicor joint-venture agreement has been altered to reflect the higher-than-anticipated operating costs of the mv Kovambo and the seafloor crawler. Diamond Fields’ maximum monthly contribution to costs is being increased to US$575,000 from US$400,000.

Mining is suspended pending the negotiation of a new agreement between the parties, with DFI seeking a month-to-month contract.

Beyond its flagship Namibian marine operation, Diamond Fields has been active in Greenland and Norway (nickel-copper-titanium) and Sierra Leone and Madagascar (diamonds).

The company has 68.4 million shares outstanding and a market capitalization of $36 million. It trades in the range of $1.08-41.