Diamonds and pearls for Trustco Holdings

Trustco Holdings is set to enter into an agreement for the purchase of diamond mining and exploration entity, Huso Investments via its Trustco subsidiary, Trustco Resources.

Huso Investments has interests in a licensed diamond processing and polishing factory and is currently owned by Trustco headman, Quinton van Rooyen’s family.
Explaining the rationale behind the purchase, Trustco said in a statement that it will create a natural foreign exchange hedge for Trustco, adding that it is expected to create shareholder value to the shareholders of Trustco.
“Opportunities in the diamond sector are very scarce, especially a vertically integrated business model within the diamond value chain.”
Added Trustco “more than 2500 Namibian shareholders in particular will benefit directly from the exploitation of the natural resources of Namibia. Local beneficiation will stimulate this sub-sector due to the vertically integrated model of Huso.”
Northern Namibia Development Company is currently engaged in small-scale mining as well as exploration activities 600 kilometres north of Swakopmund presumably near Toscanini in the Skeleton Coast Park. Exploratory activities are currently spread over the 20,000 hectare Exploration Prospecting License 2633.
Mining operations were kicked into gear following the discovery of a suitable resource to initiate a mining programme by Geomine Consulting cc / Mineral Exploration in February 2010.
The Van Rooyen-controlled mine has a staff complement of 26 permanent employees while the mine and exploration area boast x-ray diamond recovery equipment and an operational dense media separation plant. Mining activities are conducted by conventional means with excavators and dump trucks used for transportation.
Moving from property and insurance to banking and resources, Trustco last year acquired a banking licence following its purchase of the now-defunct Fides Namibia Bank, embarked on the re-modelling of its insurance business in South Africa and took ownership of the Elisenheim Property situated a stone throw from the capital.
Explaining the rationale behind the Fides Bank acquisition, its Financial Director Ryan McDougall said at an Investor Conference last year “the bank will present us with a unique opportunity to firstly, lower the cost of funding in the Group and secondly to open up the financial inclusion model that have been successful in the past for our insurance business, for the banking space and looking at some of those clients at the lower end of the spectrum as well as looking at banking products that we can offer to them.”