22nd Jul 2005 07:00
Dwyka Diamonds Limited22 July 2005 Dwyka Diamonds Limited De Beers diamond tailings retreatment project update • Site preparation nearly complete • Construction due to be completed Q4 2005 • Plant to treat 50,000 tonnes/month from De Beers Kimberly operations Following the commencement of construction earlier this month at the SouthAfrican diamond tailing retreatment plant, a joint venture between DwykaDiamonds Limited ("Dwyka" or "the Company") (tic:DWY) and Kolong Investments,site preparation is nearly complete and the fencing and civil contractors havebeen appointed. The Project will be supplied with tailings by De BeersConsolidated Mines Limited ("De Beers") from their production facilities inKimberly. The target date for construction completion is by the end of Q4 2005.The plant will treat a minimum of 50,000 tonnes of diamond tailings per month. Most of the required steelwork and equipment has been purchased and is now beingprepared by a local engineering workshop prior to erection on site. The newplant has a "no technical compromises" design, featuring state of the art densemedium separation and X-ray sorting technology to ensure maximum diamondrecovery. Selection and appointment of the key members of the project execution team havebeen steered by Dwyka Chief Operating Officer, Evan Kirby. Internationallyrenowned Dense Medium Separation Consultant, Dr Tony Mason, has been retainedfor detailed process design and equipment specification throughout the plant.The appointed Project Manager, Ralph English, has a long history of successfulmanagement of mining projects in Southern Africa and other parts of the world.These key players have been supported by the extensive local experience ofDwyka's recently appointed managing director, Cedric Bredenkamp. The Tailings Retreatment Project is owned by Superkolong (Pty) Ltd with Dwykaholding 40 per cent. of the equity through its wholly owned subsidiary company,Supermix (Pty) Ltd. The capital cost of the project will be about R20 millionand project development is currently being funded by Dwyka. Once operations havecommenced, funding is expected to be switched to a South African Rands bankloan. Commenting on the update today Melissa Sturgess, Chairman, of Dwyka said:"Progress to date at the retreatment project has been excellent and we aim to bein full production by Q1 of 2006. The tailings project will give Dwyka multiplerevenue streams and allow us to further demonstrate our competence as a producerin the diamond sector." For further information please contact: In Australia: In United Kingdom:-------------------------- -------------------------Melissa Sturgess Laurence Read/ Leesa Peters-------------------------- -------------------------Dwyka Diamonds Limited Conduit PR-------------------------- -------------------------(+618) 9324 2955 (+44) 20 7618 8707/ (+44) 7979 955 923-------------------------- ------------------------- 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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