Diamcor Mining (DMI-V) is proceeding with the expansion of its processing facilities at the Krone-Endora at Venetia project in South Africa. This is the expansion planned for last year, Mr. Taylor says, sighing that it had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions imposed by the government. (Investors with a long memory will recall that Mr. Taylor and his crew have been touting imminent expansion plans since Diamcor put its operation into de facto production eight years ago.)
Diamcor's current plan calls for a doubling of processing volumes in the near term, primarily by employing a new final x-ray recovery process that is expected to boost diamond recovery efficiencies. As well, the plan calls for additional processing equipment to improve bulk materials reduction. (In fact, improved pans to eliminate waste rock have been a part of Diamcor's oft-touted upgrades for years.) As for this latest attempt, the equipment should be ready to go by the end of September, Mr. Taylor says.
As for the second phase, Mr. Taylor touts a longer-range plan calling for a finalizing of the Krone-Endora processing scheme "to significantly enhance long-term processing volume capabilities as part of the company's overall long-term mineral project management strategy." This second, long-winded enhancement will not come immediately -- just in case you missed the multiple "long-term" references -- and when it does come, it is unclear what it will entail.
Indeed, Mr. Taylor attempts to pass the plan off as having a "focus on completing the groundwork necessary for future expansion capabilities," but for investors seeking substance amid the weasel-infested focus, he offers a side order of fudge and bafflegab. "The company plans to consolidate its current facilities to further increase throughputs," he says, thereby allowing Diamcor to "reduce the overall processing footprint and unit costs and minimize environmental disturbance."
Mr. Taylor was seemingly unperturbed by his weasel infestation, noting that he and his crew are "very pleased with this blueprint for expansion," adding that the expansion and further refinement of Diamcor's facilities are "simply a continuation of our pre-COVID-19 plans to support future growth." He applauds this two-stage approach, as designed to increase volumes and revenues in the near-term, with the goal to fund our planned expansion through increased cash flow -- all of which suggests that there may yet be meat to the long-term plan.
To support all this expanding, Diamcor is looking to add new carats to its recovery plan -- the company still avoids calling its operation a mine and its carat crop production because it has never completed so much as a dream sheet for Krone-Endora, nor does it have a resource estimate compiled since the company began trial mining in 2012. Mr. Taylor says that the "overall strategy" -- what others might call a mine plan -- will be supported by drilling and bulk sampling, in parallel, at other prospective target areas on the project.
Will Purcell |
