Mining Intelligence and News
South Africa

Finsch Mine

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Finsch Mine

Location: 36 km E from Postmasburg, South Africa

Regional Office:

Silver Point Office Park, Block 3, 22 Ealing Crescent, Bryanston
P.O. Box 71007
Johannesburg
South Africa
2021

Contacts:

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Sub-level caving
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotFinsch is renowned for highly commercial goods of +5 carats and is rich in gem quality smaller diamonds.

A number of large +50 carat stones are also recovered annually. The mine can also produce very rare fancy yellow diamonds.

Early in 2024, Finsch suffered from tunnel availability issues in the mature Upper Block 5 SLC with mitigating actions taken to improve draw control that saw an improvement in ROM grades. Issues that occurred with Finsch’s winder in the third quarter also contributed to lower mined tonnes and the issue has now been fully resolved. Grade improvements were seen from March 2024 with mining commencing in the 78-Level Phase II which resulted in dilution from waste rock reducing to more normal levels. The phased ramp-up of 78-Level Phase II should be fully complete in Q1 FY 2025.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of South Africa 21.6 % Indirect
Petra Diamonds Ltd. 78.4 % Indirect
Ownership Tree
Petra Diamonds Ltd.: 74%;

Itumeleng Petra Diamonds Employee Trust: 12%;

Kago Diamonds (Pty) Ltd: 14%.

The IPDET holds a 12% interest in each of the Group’s South African operations, with Petra’s commercial B-BBEE Partners holding the remaining 14% interest through their respective shareholdings in Kago Diamonds, in which Petra has a 31.46% interest. The effective interest percentages of Petra Diamonds attributable to Finsch is 78.4%.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Kimberlite

Summary:

Finsch has an age of 118 ± 2.8 Ma (Smith et al., 1985), and is a Group-2 kimberlite (Smith, 1983a; Fraser and Hawkesworth, 1992). The geology of Finsch Mine in the open-pit and on the 348 m underground sampling level was described by Clement (1982). The pipe was emplaced through a thick sequence of Proterozoic, Griqualand West sequence sedimentary rocks comprising dolomites, banded iron formation and shales. Preserved within the pipe are large fragments of Karoo-aged sediments, lavas and dolerite which were clearly present at the time of emplacement, but have been subsequently eroded away.

Clement defined eight kimberlite varieties in the mine which he called F1–F8. F1 was described as being the most significant volumetrically and was classified as a diatreme-facies TKB. This variety hosted numerous very large blocks of down rafted Karoo basalt lava and sedimentary rocks. The F5 variety was also described as TKB, but occurred within a satellite portion of the pipe called “the precursor”. The other varieties were classified as hypabyssal kimberlite or kimberlite breccia.

Exploration of deeper levels of the mine found that the F8 variety increased in size with depth, and that the lithiccontent of the F1 declined with depth. Mapping of deeper levels has also revealed the presence of steeply dipping bedding planes within both the F1 and F8 varieties. Ekkerd et al. suggested that the F1 and F8 could be the same kimberlite, varying only in lithic content and alteration.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Diamond Crystals k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Diamond Mineral k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,7562,0732,1502,2142,066
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3,297,047 t3,879,368 t4,863,258 t5,843,716 t5,672,856 t
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Operating Costs

Currency202420232022202120202019201820172016
Total operating costs ($/t milled) ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 24.1   54   85.6  
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 9.1   7.7   9.1  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 170.2   231.9   216.7  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -37.8   68   101.7  
Operating Cash Flow M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 16, 2024
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 16, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 16, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2024
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Aerial view:

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