3 December
2024
GEM DIAMONDS LIMITED
Letšeng Life of Mine Plan and
Extended Revolving Credit Facilities
Gem Diamonds Limited
(LSE: GEMD) ("Gem
Diamonds" or the
"Company" or the "Group") is pleased to announce a revised Life of Mine
Plan for Letšeng and a two-year extension to the Group's revolving
credit facilities.
Letšeng's Revised Life of Mine Plan
Summary:
· Steeper slope design for the final open
pit cutback of the Satellite pit completed and approved.
· High-wall structural and lateral support
designs completed.
· Significant reduction of
Satellite Cut 6 West ("SC6W") ore to waste stripping ratio from 1 : 6.9
to
1 : 2.1 (87.9 million tonnes to 21.5 million
tonnes).
· Significant reduction in future
waste-stripping costs of c.US$180 million.
· SC6W ore reduced from 12.8 million tonnes
to 10.4 million tonnes.
Extended Group Revolving Credit
Facilities
· The Group's revolving credit facilities of
US$71.7 million, due to expire on 21 December 2024, have been
extended for two years to 21 December 2026.
1. Letšeng's
Revised Life of Mine Plan
The Group is pleased
to announce Letšeng's revised Life of Mine Plan following Board
approval of the new slope design of SC6W, the final open-pit
cutback in the Satellite pit.
Waste profile
SC6W has been under
review since mid-2023 with the objective to safely and responsibly
reduce the required waste stripping under the existing pit slope
design. The revised pit slope design incorporates steeper slopes in
the competent basalt hard-rock (waste) sectors of the Satellite
pit. Geotechnical experts completed a steeper overall pit and
inter-ramp slope stability analysis which was used to design
necessary lateral support and potential rockfall mitigation
measures. These measures include:
·
strategically placed catchment
fences,
·
rockfall barriers,
·
wire-mesh draping,
·
improved blasting techniques and
mechanical scaling, and
·
removal, bolting and/or anchoring of
unstable rock wedges/key blocks.
These measures will
ensure the safe and responsible mining of steeper slopes in the
competent basalt hard-rock sectors of the Satellite pit.
The revised mine plan
results in an overall reduction of 65.8 million tonnes of waste
stripping when compared to the existing mine plan. This will have a
significant reduction in future waste-stripping costs of c.US$180
million. The investment in the implementation of the additional
support measures has been budgeted at US$15 million over the
five-year waste-stripping period.
The final cutback in
the Main pit (MC4W) is currently under review to assess the
viability of a similar steeper slope design in the hard-rock
basalt, the outcome of which is expected to be a reduced waste
stripping ratio, which will be announced upon
completion.
Ore profile
The pit slope design
in the kimberlite (ore) of SC6W remains at the current slope angle
design. The revised SC6W waste slope design has, however, resulted
in a reduction of 2.4 million tonnes of accessible ore when
compared to the current design. An opportunity to steepen the
kimberlite slopes is being assessed, which will allow access to
additional ore with little to no further waste stripping
required.
The Life of Mine Plan
in the Main pit has been updated to include inferred ore which will
be accessible within the existing pit design with little to no
further waste stripping required.
The table below
details the change in waste and ore tonnes in SC6W in the Satellite
pit:
|
Letšeng - Satellite SC6W
Comparison
|
|
|
SC6W
(Revised)
|
SC6W
(Existing)
|
Variance
|
|
Waste mined
(Mt)
|
21.5
|
87.9
|
(66.4)
|
|
Ore mined
(Mt)
|
10.4
|
12.8
|
(2.4)
|
|
Strip
Ratio
|
1 : 2.1
|
1 : 6.9
|
|
The table below
details the overall Life of Mine waste and ore tonnes for Satellite
and Main pits:
|
Letšeng - Main and Satellite Life of Mine Plan
Comparison*
|
|
|
Revised Plan
|
Existing Plan
|
Variance
|
|
Waste mined (Mt)
|
71.1
|
136.9
|
(65.8)
|
|
Main
Pit
|
49.4
|
48.9
|
0.5
|
|
Satellite
Pit
|
21.7
|
88.0
|
(66.3)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ore mined (Mt)
|
79.4
|
71.0
|
8.4
|
|
Main
Pit
|
66.1
|
55.3
|
10.8
|
|
Satellite
Pit
|
13.3
|
15.7
|
(2.4)
|
*
Waste and ore mined include tonnes from 1
January 2024 for comparative purposes.
More details on the
Life of Mine Plan can be found on the Company's website at www.gemdiamonds.com.
2.
Extended Group Revolving Credit
Facilities
The Group's
revolving credit facilities comprising US$30.0 million at Gem
Diamonds Limited (US$6.0 million drawn as at 30 November 2024)
and M750.0 million (US$41.7million) at Letšeng (no drawdown as at 30 November
2024) were due to expire on 21 December 2024. The facilities have
been extended for a two-year period to 21 December 2026. The terms
of the extended facilities remain largely in line with the current
facilities but with improved covenant ratios. These facilities will
be reviewed during 2026 with the intention to renew the facilities
for an appropriate period from December 2026.
The Company will host
an investor update presentation via live audio webcast today at
9:30 GMT. Please use the following link to register for the
presentation:
https://gemdiamonds.zoom.us/webinar/register/.
Company website:
www.gemdiamonds.com
The Gem Diamonds
Limited LEI number is 213800RC2PGGMZQG8L67
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Gem Diamonds
Limited
Kiki Constantopoulos, Company
Secretary
ir@gemdiamonds.com
Celicourt Communications
Mark Antelme / Felicity
Winkles
Tel: +44 (0) 20 770 6424
This announcement
contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.
The Gem Diamonds
Limited LEI number is 213800RC2PGGMZQG8L67.
ABOUT GEM DIAMONDS:
Gem
Diamonds is a leading global producer of high value diamonds. The
Company owns 70% of the Letšeng mine in Lesotho. The Letšeng mine
is famous for the production of large, exceptional white
diamonds,
making it the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in
the world.
www.gemdiamonds.com