Petra Diamonds is considering to exit its investment in the Koffiefontein diamond mining operations in South Africa in conjunction with the company’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partners, Kago Diamonds (Pty) Ltd and Itumeleng Petra Diamonds Employee Trust (IPDET).
“Following the conclusion of the Business Re-engineering project, which Petra announced in its interim results, Petra has updated its plan for the Koffiefontein mine, which has a current mine plan to FY 2025. A process of right-sizing the operation, which is likely to involve a reduction in employee headcount … has commenced. This process aims to provide for sustainable operations at Koffiefontein until the end of Petra’s mine plan,” the company said in a statement.
Koffiefontein had a gross resource base of about 5.25 million carats as of 30 June 2021, including some 1.11 million carats in the indicated resource category associated with underground resources, according to data released by Petra Diamonds.