Magnum Mining’s Trial Mining Programme Underway In SA

The trial mining programme will provide critical information to assist with the re-establishment of commercial mining operations at Gravelotte – which was a major producer of emerald over several decades up until the early 1980s, the company said in a statement.

The programme, which will be conducted around 2000t from Dumps, and 8000t from the Cobra and Discovery pits, will also confirm historical emerald grades, optimise mining and processing techniques and recoveries, and allow the company to establish the value of emeralds produced in the open market.

Emeralds were discovered in Limpopo in 1927 and, since then, several companies have explored for and mined within the broader region for them.

From 1929 to 1982, the total recorded production from the Gravelotte project was nearly 113m carats.

The trial mining programme is expected to generate strong news-flow and allow Magnum Mining to enhance its knowledge of various parameters to re-establish an emerald mining and processing operation in South Africa, stated the company.