Mining Intelligence and News
South Africa

Cullinan Mine

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Cullinan Mine

Location: 25 km E from Pretoria, South Africa

Regional Office:

Silver Point Office Park, Block 3, 22 Ealing Crescent, Bryanston
Johannesburg
South Africa
2021

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Block caving
  • Sub-level caving
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotCullinan Mine is Petra’s flagship asset and a world-class kimberlite, famous for being home of the largest gem diamond (3,106cts) ever recovered as well as being the world’s most important source of blue diamonds.

The current source of Cullinan Mine’s diamonds are from the C-Cut section, which produces some of the world’s most exceptional diamonds. Also have two development projects approved, the C-Cut Extension and CC1-East, which will increase carat production markedly and extend the mine plan.
Latest NewsPetra Diamonds Limited: Publication of 2025 Annual Report, and Sustainability Supplementary Information     October 17, 2025

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of South Africa 21.6 % Indirect
Petra Diamonds Ltd. 78.4 % Indirect
The Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa has a complex ownership structure. Petra Diamonds holds a 74% interest in Cullinan Diamond Mine (Pty) Ltd, while the remaining 26% is split between two entities: the Itumeleng Petra Diamonds Employee Trust (IPDET), which holds a 12% stake, and Kago Diamonds, which holds 14%.

Petra Diamonds has a 31.46% interest in Kago Diamonds through its commercial B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) partners.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Kimberlite

Summary:

The pipe intruded rocks of the Transvaal Supergroup as well as igneous rocks of the Bushveld Igneous Complex. The kimberlite has been radiometrically dated at 1179 ± 36 Ma using Rb–Sr in clinopyroxene and 1202 ± 72 Ma using U–Pb in perovskite. The pipe is itself intruded by a gabbro sill of 1150 Ma.

The internal geology of the pipe was first described by Wagner who noted the presence of a “floating reef” of Waterberg quartzite which occurred in the middle of the pipe and was associated with a considerable rubble zone of rounded quartzite and sandstone boulders. These Waterberg quartzite inclusions indicated the presence of this formation at the time of emplacement, but which has since been eroded from the area. Later geological work identified the presence of a number of discrete kimberlite varieties that included two major types of TKB, named the “Brown” and “Grey” kimberlites. The large floating reef referred to above occurred within the Grey Kimberlite along the boundary with the Brown. In addition, a central complex that consisted of several phases of kimberlite occurred within the Grey. This was referred to as the Black Kimberlite, which has an associated variety called the Piebald Kimberlite. The last phase of magmatism was the intrusion of carbonate-rich dykes.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

The Company is not able to precisely measure the ROM/tailings grade split because ore from both sources is processed through the same plant; the Company therefore back-calculates the grade with reference to resource grades.
CommodityProductUnits20252024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Diamond Crystals k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Diamond Mineral k carats  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,6561,369787681729
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics20252024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5,075,441 t4,153,835 t2,389,087 t3,189,181 t4,971,310 t
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe6 Mt6 Mt
^ 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

Mine Financials

Units202520242023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD  ....  Subscribe
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 46.3   73.9   151.2  
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 6.8   6.5   4.3  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 171.4   167   91.3  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -53.7   14   4.8  
Operating Cash Flow M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 15, 2024

Workforce

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2024
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2023
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...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
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Aerial view:

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