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| Williamson Diamonds mine, in Shinyanga Tanzania |
Williamson Diamonds, a subsidiary of South Africa's Petra Diamonds, saw
its revenues rising to 7.5 million US dollars (about 12bn/-) in the second half
of last year, thanks to production growth and market stability.
The revenues rose from 2 million US dollars (over 3bn/-) realized in
the same period in 2010. The biggest diamond mine in the country generated 1.5
million US dollars (about 2.4bn/-) in the first half of 2011.
The revenues, in the last six months of last year, come after the mine
sold 23,833 carats of diamond compared to 7,722 carats sold in the same period
in 2010. In the first half of last year 5,044 carats were sold.
The market stability also contributed to the good revenues of the
company as in the last year's six month price per carats averaged at 314 US
dollars compared to the first half's 298 dollars.
The firm said in a statement that a recent power hike by 40 per cent
will impact negatively on its cost base. Petra which owns 75 per cent of
Mwadui-based mine says erratic electricity supply has completed it to revisit
the timing of its long-term expansion project.
The revised timing of the project and construction of a new main plant
will depend on confirmation of reliable electricity from Tanzania Electric
Supply Company.The company said rebuilding of the existing 3 million tonnes per
annum plant at Williamson is complete and the plant should be fully operational
by next April.
The firm, which has other mines in South Africa, says preparation of
the open pit continued and the Run of Mine (RoM) stockpile established due to
the pit-shaping operations remains the same size of about 900,000 tonnes,
estimated to contain in excess of 50,000 carats.
Source: The Daily News,www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Abduel Elinaza
Williamson Mine was established in 1940 by Dr John Williamson, a
Canadian geologist, and has remained productive since then, making it one of
the oldest continuously operating diamond mines in the world.
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