7th Feb 2006 07:00
Dwyka Diamonds Limited07 February 2006 Dwyka Diamonds Limited ("Dwyka Diamonds" or "the Company") Dwyka to take over certain De Beers geological offices and purchase plant and equipment The Directors of Dwyka Diamonds Limited, the AIM and ASX listed diamondsproducer and developer, today announces that it has reached agreement with DeBeers Consolidated Mines Limited to: • take over a number of offices in Kimberley, South Africa, on a 10 year, care and maintenance basis; and • acquire a specialised sampling plant and engineering workshop in Kimberley, South Africa. Under the agreement Dwyka will lease five buildings on the De Beers GeologicalServices Division Campus on a care and maintenance basis. The offices havebecome available due to the recent restructuring of De Beers' explorationoperations in Kimberley. In addition, for a sum of ZAR4.0m (subject to final audit), Dwyka has purchaseda specialised sampling plant, various pieces of processing equipment and a fullyequipped engineering workshop. Some of the process plant is being utilisedimmediately in the De Beers Tailings Retreatment Project Joint Venture. It isanticipated that the sampling plant for the forthcoming bulk sampling operationin Tanzania will be constructed using much of the plant that forms part of thepurchase agreement. The engineering workshop will be utilized extensively to build plant andinfrastructure that will be required on the underground mines Blaauwbosch andNewlands and on future Dwyka projects. It is anticipated that this acquisitionwill significantly decrease Dwyka's project capital costs going forward. As a direct result of the agreement Dwyka has employed 30 ex-De Beers employeeswho were recently retrenched. This is a demonstration of the mutually beneficialway in which Dwyka and De Beers are working together to provide jobs for localKimberley people. It will also secure the future of a range of buildings whichhave historic significance to Kimberley and the history of diamond mining inSouth Africa. These new employees are part of the required staffing complementfor the tailings joint venture project. Commenting on the agreement, Melissa Sturgess, Chairman of Dwyka, said, "This isanother way in which the relationship that has developed between Dwyka and DeBeers can be mutually beneficial while providing positive social outcomes. DeBeers' commitment to assisting its former employees find alternative work hasresulted in this innovative agreement. Dwyka obtains incredible benefits fromnew office space and the purchase of a range of processing equipment and is ableto secure the services of a range of De Beers' trained employees'. For further information please contact: In Australia: In United Kingdom:Adrian Griffin, Melissa Sturgess Laurence Read/ Leesa PetersDwyka Diamonds Limited Conduit PR+61 (0) 8 9324 2955 +44 (0)20 7429 6605 / +44 (0)7812 159 885 Or visit: http://www.dwykadiamonds.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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