According to Voorspoed general manager Mpumi Zikalala, the mine will increase diamond production to 800,000 carats in the next two years.
Zikalala said that the Voorspoed openpit mine is projected to generate 600,000 carats in 2012, and is expected to reach 750,000 carats in 2013 and 800,000 carats in 2014.
The company has invested $21m to obtain heavy earth-moving equipment to extract ore, while the mine’s managers are assessing methods for optimization of ore processing.
Operations at Voorspoed are expected to reach a depth of 360 to 420m to produce 10 million carats over a 12-16 year mine life.
The Voorspoed mine is one of three operations owned by De Beers in South Africa.
