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Botswana
Karowe Mine (Karowe UG Project)

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 Location:
15 km SW from Letlhakane, Botswana

  Regional Office:
Plot 67782, Block 8 Industrial, Diamond Technology Park
P O Box AE 668, AEH - Postnet
Gaborone
Botswana
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
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  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start...
Mine Life2026
Latest NewsLucara Diamond Corp.: 2022 Guidance Achieved Across All Metrics. Shaft Sinking For Underground Expansion Continues     February 21, 2023


Owners

Source: p. 10
CompanyInterestOwnership
Lucara Diamond Corp. 100 % Indirect
Ownership Tree
Karowe is 100% owned by Lucara Diamond Corp. through its 100% owned subsidiary Lucara Botswana (Pty) Ltd. (formerly, Boteti Mining (Pty) Ltd.).

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Kimberlite


Summary:

The Karowe Mine is based on the AK6 kimberlite pipe, which is part of the Orapa Kimberlite Field (“OKF”) in Botswana. The bedrock of the region is covered by a thin veneer of wind-blown Kalahari sand and exposure is very poor. Rocks close to surface are often extensively calcretised and silcretised due to prolonged exposure on a late Tertiary erosion surface (the African Surface) which approximates to the present day land surface.

The OKF includes at least 83 kimberlite bodies, varying in size from insignificant dykes to the 110 ha AK1 kimberlite which is Debswana’s Orapa Mine. All kimberlite intrusions are of post-Karoo age. Of the 83 known kimberlite bodies, five (AK1, BK9, DK1, DK2 and AK6 which is the Karowe Mine) have been or are currently being mined, and a further four (BK1, BK11, BK12 and BK15) are recognized as potentially economic deposits.

The country rock at the Karowe Mine is sub-outcropping flood basalt of the Stormberg Lava Group (approximately 130 m thick on the Karowe property) which is underlain by a condensed sequence of Upper Carboniferous to Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup (approximately 245 m thick on the Karowe property). The Karoo sequence overlies granitic basement.

AK6 is a roughly north-south elongate kimberlite body with a near surface expression of ~3.3 ha and a maximum area of approximately 7 ha at ~120 m below surface. The body comprises three geologically distinct, coalescing pipes that taper ........


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The Karowe Mine is an existing open pit mine located in Central Botswana that has been in production since 2012 and has extracted approximately 20 Mt of ore to date. Conventional open pit drill and blast mining with diesel excavators and trucks provide an average annual 2.6 Mt of kimberlite feed to the mill, plus additional ore to surface stockpiles.

The open pit mine operation is expected to terminate mid-2025 at an elevation of approximately 710 masl. The mine currently has approximately two years of stockpiled reserves, which will be increased through the life of the open pit and then consumed according to value through the end of the mine life.

All open pit mining operations are performed by mine contractors working year-round on two 12-hour shifts. The on-site mining contractor is currently performing load and haul operations with a Caterpillar 6015 Hydraulic Shovel and Caterpillar 777E/G Haul Truck pairing. The mining contract has a mixed fleet of additional production, support, and ancillary equipment available on-site.

Production rates will decrease until the end of the mine life, as no further pushbacks are planned, and the strip ratio will be reduced at depth.

There are substantial resources remaining below the economic extents of the open pit that may be extracted by underground mining methods.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

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Production:

CommodityUnits2022202120202019201820172016
Diamond carats  ......  Subscription required ^  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required366,086249,767353,974
All production numbers are expressed as mineral. ^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202220212020201920182017
Ore tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required3.3 Mt3.1 Mt1,575,052 t
Waste  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required6.5 Mt15 Mt15,965,121 t
Tonnes processed  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required2.8 Mt2.6 Mt2,335,550 t
Total tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required9.8 Mt18.1 Mt
Annual processing capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at December 25, 2021:
Mineral Reserves are estimated at a cut-off value of US$33/t based on an OP and UG mining cost of US$11/t, a processing cost of US$15/t and a G&A cost of US$7/t. Process recovery of the diamonds was assumed to be 100% as the recoveries were included in the mineral resource block model assumptions and therefore have taken recoveries into account. All of the kimberlite material in the South Lobe is above the cut-off value.
Mineral Resources are quoted above a +1.25 mm bottom cut-off and have been factored to account for diamond losses within the smaller sieve classes expected within the current configuration of the Karowe Mine process plant.

CategoryOreTypeTonnage CommodityGradeContained carats
Probable Stockpiles 8.8 Mt Diamond 8 cpht 0.706 M carats
Probable In-Situ (OP) 9.7 Mt Diamond 14.2 cpht 1.368 M carats
Probable In-Situ (UG) 37.4 Mt Diamond 14 cpht 5.226 M carats
Probable Total 55.9 Mt Diamond 13.1 cpht 7.301 M carats
Indicated Total 46.43 Mt Diamond 15.5 cpht 7.207 M carats
Inferred Total 6.9 Mt Diamond 17.3 cpht 1.192 M carats

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits202120202019201820172016
Cash costs (sold) Diamond USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 216 / carat   238 / carat   156 / carat  
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Operating Costs:

Units2021202020192018201720162015
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD 3027.831.940.934.626.528.9

Financials:

Units2022202120202019201820172016
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD  ......  Subscription required
Capital expenditures M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 58.8   60.2   34.7  
Sustaining costs M USD 8.7   10  
Revenue M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 176.2   220.8   295.5  
Operating Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 51.5   121.6   194.1  
Gross profit M USD 100.5   158.9   239.4  
After-tax Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 24.5   79.9   95.1  
EBITDA M USD 60.5   113.5   185.4  
Subscription required - Subscription is required



Heavy Mobile Equipment:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Ref. Date
Dozer 30 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Dozer (crawler) 45 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Dozer (crawler) 50 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Dozer (crawler) 100 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Drill ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Drill ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Drill ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Excavator 40 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Excavator 20 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Grader ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Loader (FEL) ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Shovel (hydraulic) ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Sep 26, 2019
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Sep 26, 2019
Truck (haul) 50 t ....................... Subscription required Leased Aug 9, 2018
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased Sep 26, 2019
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 15, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 15, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 15, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 15, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 15, 2022
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

ContractorsYear
Subscription required 2021
Subscription required 2019
Subscription required 2016

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
Management Discussion & Analysis 2018
Technical Report 2018
Management Discussion & Analysis 2017
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2017
Annual Information Form 2016
Management Discussion & Analysis 2016
Management Discussion & Analysis 2015
Technical Report 2014
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News:

NewsDate
Lucara Diamond Corp.: 2022 Guidance Achieved Across All Metrics. Shaft Sinking For Underground Expansion Continues February 21, 2023

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