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Tanzania’s Williamson diamond mine, which is majority owned by Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL), has a potential mine life of over 50 years, although the current mine plan only accounts for 18 years, reports AllAfrica.com.
According to the interim management statement issued earlier this month, Petra current mine plan at Williamson is to ramp up ROM production from ca. 2.5 million tonnes (Mt) in its 2013 financial year to ca. 3.6 Mt by 2016 financial year, following the introduction of a re-crush system into the plant circuit.
Only in the first nine months of the Petra’s financial year, Williamson mine production improved significantly thanks to major rehabilitation to the treatment plant.
The mine, a historic source of high value Type II diamonds and fancy pinks, is Tanzania’s only important diamond producer.
Tanzania’s mineral wealth is not limited to diamonds. The country has vast resources of coal, cobalt, nickel, uranium, and is Africa’s fourth-largest producer of gold.
(Image of truck transporting ore at the Williamson open pit mine in Tanzania. Courtesy of Petra Diamonds)
