Recovers 122, 120 and 105 carat stones from Saxendrift Monthly production exceeds 2500 carats
As a consequence of the international economic crisis and precipitous decline in rough diamond prices, Rockwell restructured its business and operations in January and
Plant throughput and diamond recoveries - The initiatives implemented by the Rockwell Board and Management have shown systematic benefit at all operations and resulted in better mining efficiency, increased production, higher diamond recoveries, lower operating costs, and improved operating efficiencies. As a consequence of these initiatives the Company has exceeded its target of 2500 carats per month from its three operating mines during the period June to
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carat Production 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holpan Klipdam Saxendrift Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 258.80 521.74 165.72 946.26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 150.00 498.99 492.40 1,141.42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 322.94 529.30 294.77 1,147.01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 513.45 579.55 639.79 1732.80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 512.10 1,029.16 748.73 2,289.99 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 831.99 1,431.09 565.56 2,828.64 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 815.59 1,201.01 792.13 2,809.23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 869.13 1,073.42 1,068.16 3,010.71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating costs - Since
Production and cost figures for the current financial year to
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit Unit Total Unit Cash Production Costs Costs Cost 2009 Tonnes Carats Cash Costs (R/Tonne) (US$/Tonne) (US$/Tonne) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 370,509 1,141 R 17,662,469 R 47.67 $4.77 $2.86 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 407,159 1,147 R 17,303,092 R 42.50 $4.72 $2.57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 462,488 1,733 R 17,687,509 R 38.24 $4.23 $2.34 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 441,031 2,290 R 19,064,819 R 43.23 $5.84 $3.22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 564,041 2,829 R 15,649,075 R 27.74 $3.57 $2.77 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 515,365 2,809 R 12,520,304 R 24.29 $4.25 $3.04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * July and August numbers include the Westbank payment holiday. Financial data are unaudited.
Diamond recovery plant - The Company implemented reviews of all final recovery facilities and systems, and made progressive enhancements to tracer test procedures, sorting systems, and security monitoring. These reviews and improvements have been aimed at ensuring sustainable high levels of plant efficiency and optimal security of product. Size frequency plots are conducted routinely to monitor production characteristics. Aside from improved production at Rockwell operations, diamond production profiles at all operating mines have for the six month period ended
A brief operational summary is provided for each of the Company's operating mines below:
Saxendrift mine - The new Saxendrift wet Rotary pan plant underwent pre-commissioning in
Exceptional stones have been recovered from Saxendrift, including a 40 carat clean white stone in
The 122 carat stone was recovered from basal gravel deposits being mined in the south west portion of Rockwell's mining right, whereas the 120 and 105 carat stones have red oxide coatings indicating recovery from Rooi Koppie (surface deflation) deposits that are currently being mined and processed. These recoveries are in-line with predictions made from size frequency plots for this deposit. This deposit also yields regular stones in the range of plus 10 to 40 carats, and has yielded two high quality intense yellow stones since
Klipdam mine - This operation continues to meet production targets on a regular basis and remains the flagship operation. Progressive enhancements have been made to mining procedures and the processing plant. Operating cash costs are below US$3 per tonne and ongoing refinements to material handling and efficient scheduling of mining and rehabilitation schedules will likely result in further improvements.
Holpan mine - Since
Wouterspan mine - In
The Company has initiated the design and refurbishment of the existing owned plant (including two large scrubbers with throughput in excess of 200 tonnes per hour each, two 18-foot pans, and two 16-foot pans) as a prelude to erecting a completely modernized wet Rotary pan plant at Wouterspan similar to the modular design commissioned at Saxendrift. This low cost operating plant would replace the old Wouterspan plant and in Phase 1 of commissioning would have a throughput of about 200,000 tonnes per month. The modular design configuration would allow for installation of at least two additional double 18-foot pan plants. This addition could significantly enhance the throughput and carat production at Wouterspan and reduce the operating costs as part of a Phase 2 expansion plan.
President and CEO
John Bristow President and CEO No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. Forward Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Other than statements of historical fact all statements in this release that address future production, reserve or resource potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that each Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, availability of capital and financing, geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability, and general economic, and market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Rockwell, Investors should review Rockwell's annual Form 40-F filing with the
For further information: on Rockwell Diamonds Inc., please visit the Company's website at www.rockwelldiamonds.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114
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