Letšeng’s Technological Operational Improvements

The Letšeng resource is unique. It combines a relatively low-grade ore with high-quality large diamonds. This uniqueness necessitates special care to be taken during the diamond recovery process to ensure that diamond damage is avoided and that the optimal diamond liberation steps are included in the process plant.

The upgrade of Letšeng’s Plant 2 was completed in March 2015. The upgrade aimed to address the unique requirements of the Letšeng resource by increasing Plant 2’s output from 400 to 450 tons an hour. During the upgrade, the Head Feed was increased by 50 tons per hour, the Scrubber, Primary Screen, Tertiary Crusher and Sputnik Loading were upgraded and Tailings Conveyor was extended. In combination, these will significantly improve revenue generation.

The new Coarse Final Recovery Plant is intended to improve diamond recovery, especially of type II diamonds. This is achieved by the use of X-ray transmissive technology and provides state-of-the-art diamond security around Letšeng’s high-value revenue stream. The new Coarse Final Recovery Plant incorporates the latest X-ray sorting technology and establishes an impervious shell within which all coarse final recovery activities occur. A new Personnel Control Centre has been constructed to control access to and egress.