The Liqhobong Mine lease area contains a cluster of at least five diamondiferous kimberlite bodies; namely the Main Pipe, Satellite Pipe, Discovery Blow, the Blow and a NW-SE striking dyke that is traceable from the perimeters of both the Main and Satellite Pipes. The surface areas of these pipes and blows are ~8.5 hectares, 1.6 hectares, 0.15 hectares and 0.1m hectares respectively. All the currently known five diamondiferous kimberlites of the Liqhobong cluster are within a strike length of at least 2.5 km (Leroux, 2010). Both blows and the Satellite Pipe are generously endowed with kimberlite indicator minerals (KIMs) occurring as xenocrysts. The main pipe is comparatively less enriched in the kimberlite indicator minerals but has abundant olivine macrocrysts and mantle xenoliths, the latter which commonly bear the KIMs.

The mining process at LMDC will be a conventional open-pit operation consisting of drill, blast, load and haul activities which will be carried out by a mining contractor. The pit design has been based on a split shell concept largely to defer waste stripping as much as possible while at the same time providing a double ramp system to mitigate the risk of ramp failure. The pit layout incorporates a concentric cut 1 which has been designed around the existing exposed pit bottom. Four successive split shell cuts follow, namely Cut 2 South, Cut 2 North, Cut 3 South and Cut 3 North. Each split shell cut will have its own ramp system, however once the north cut meets up with its respective south cut, the ramps join to become a concentric system.

Haul roads in the pit have been designed at a width of 25m and will be at a gradient of 1:10. Ramp widths in the kimberlite zones will be 17m.

The mining contractor will provide all fleet and will carry out maintenance on the total mining fleet.

All kimberlite ore will be trucked and tipped into the primary crusher located 560m from the edge of the current pit. The front-end arrangement allows for direct tipping into a crusher tipping bin fitted with an 800mm aperture grizzley and rock-breaker. The crusher bin has a live capacity of 180m3 or approximately 320 tonnes. The ore will then be fed with an apron feeder into the primary crusher and onto the treatment plant. A RoM stockpile area adjacent to the tip ........

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