Mining Intelligence and News
Zimbabwe

Murowa Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
SnapshotRZM Murowa Limited managed to successfully complete and bring into production its Project Crown Jewel plant in the second half of 2022. The forecast production upside from the plant will however, only reflect subsequent to year end as focus in the current year was on stabilising and optimising the plant. There were no mining activities from the pits and material processed was obtained from the pre-mined low grade and tailings stock piles.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
RioZim Ltd. (operator) 22.2 % Indirect
RZ Murowa Holdings Ltd. 77.8 % Indirect
Murowa Diamonds is owned in majority by RZ Murowa Holdings (77.8%) with independent mining operator RioZim owning 22.2% of the Company.

Deposit type

  • Kimberlite
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Hydrothermal

Summary:

The Murowa Diamond deposit consists of a cluster of five kimberlite pipes and dykes. The pipes, labelled K1 to K5, lie between two structural features with a North-South trend. To the West is a doleritic dyke and to the east is a major shear zone.

The K1 pipe is considered to be part of a complex blow along a North-South system of kimberlite dykes of which the smaller K3, K4 and K5 bodies are a part of the local controls on K1 are of North-South orientation. However K2’s emplacement was more directly controlled by a reactivation along the shear zone.

The shape of the pipe of the K2 pipe, the eastern side of which is in direct contact with the shear, and the western wall which dips away to the west, is an inverted wedge. This shape is unusual for a kimberlite pipe and it is said almost certainly to result from a structural preparation of the ground. Detailed observation of some dyke contacts with the granite on the western side of K2 indicate that there was indeed some reactivation along the quartz shear occurring at the time of emplacement.

The geology of the Murowa kimberlite pipes is complex comprising of inter-mixing of kimberlite lithologies and different phases of emplacement. The country rock is veined, brecciated and/or metasomatised and fenitised with kimberlitic fluid phases at the kimberlite pipe contact (Moss, 2010). The K1 pipe (the main focus of this study) is modelled as a complex, steep sided multi-lobed kimberlite pipe. The contact zones around K1 vary in thickness, overall rock textures and the relative proportion of kimberlitic components.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits20222021202020192018201720162015
Diamond k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe685740732433298

Operational metrics

Metrics202220182017
Hourly processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe1,018,776 t876,130 t

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Financials

Units2021202020182017
Revenue M  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 83.9  USD 79.6  USD
Pre-tax Income M  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 12.5  USD 12  USD
After-tax Income M  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 6.8  USD 6.2  USD

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Sep 12, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Sep 12, 2023

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2019
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2018
...... Subscription required 2017

Aerial view:

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