New diamond mine inaugurated soon

Diamond miner Namdeb will later this month inaugurate a new mine near the southern coastal town of Oranjemund.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba is expected to inaugurate the new mine, previously estimated to cost N$280 million, on Monday 17 March according to an official invite released to the media recently.
Construction of the mine, located in the Sperrgebiet National Park along the Orange River, started in March 2012 and was initially expected to take 18 months to complete. The mine will replace production from Daberas Mine, which is scaling down operations, extending Orange River operations beyond 2022.
Namdeb said the new operation which will produce 45,000 carats at full production is designed to minimize impact on the environment, with continuous progressive rehabilitation during mining, and dry screening to minimise water and power consumption.

The diamond producer has been battling to extend the life of mine of the low grade, but high value resource at Daberas mine where it treats 2.8 million tonnes of ore per year recovering between 35,000 and 50,000 carats.
Namdeb, a 50/50 joint venture partnership between global diamond giant De Beers and the Namibian government, will also on the same day inaugurate a N$150 million final recovery and sorting area The new facility will replace the existing Mining Area 1 Recovery Plant with a new state-of-the-art Red Area Complex.
The Red Area Complex will be responsible for the final recovery and sorting of diamonds from concentrates produced from the various land based diamond treatment plants within Namdeb’s operations.
  The existing facility built in the 1960’s has shown signs of ageing despite several upgrades over the years. Namdeb said the new facility has the potential for improved efficiency of diamond recovery, improved security of the diamond product and lower costs of annual operation.