Voorspoed Prepare For Closure

This decision followed an extensive, transparent and comprehensive disposal process, which involved a rigorous due diligence exercise on the bidders to acquire the mine, said diamond-producer, De Beers Group.

Following an unsuccessful disposal process for Voorspoed mine, the miner has opted to instigate a responsible closure process “with due consideration of employees and host communities”.

Phillip Barton, DBCM CEO, said “we have not been able to identify a bidder that met the necessary criteria and so we have reluctantly taken the decision to close the operation, in a responsible manner, as it is no longer economically viable for DBCM to operate the mine.” We do not underestimate the impact this will have on Voorspoed mine’s employees and we have put in place appropriate support structures, he added.

When De Beers Group opened the mine on 4 November 2008, the expected operating Life of Mine was around 10 years.  “With a young workforce, the mine has been managed and operated in an exemplary manner, of significance being the safety achievements in 2017 for the ‘Best Safety Performance in Class’ and ‘Best Improved Safety Performance’ for no Lost Time Injuries between 1 October 2014 and 14 June 2018 and no Medical Treatment Cases since 16 June 2015,” the company said.

DBCM will engage with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) in order to finalise the process, as per the DMR’s request of embarking on a process to identify a proposed operator between 1 August 2018 and 31 August 2018, said the company.