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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ron S. who wrote (2505)	3/13/1999 6:35:00 PM
From: Ron S.	Respond to of 7235

Colour picture of M-1 headlines Exploration insert of Mar 15 ed. of The Northern Miner. The size of the pit dwarfs the heavy machinery. Caption reads " Marsfontein's M-1 pipe is the richest kimberlite being mined in the world. Its discovery represents the most significant South-African find since Venetia in 1980." Article spans 3 pages. Portions paraphrased below which I believe have not been mentioned in recent nr: - The production of 300,000 carats last year has vaulted SUF to second place, behind DeBeers, in the ranks of South Africa's diamond producers, ahead of both Trans Hex and state-owned Alexcor. - CJ: "We've gone from an exploration team to having an absolutely first-class, top-notch mining group that is capable of doing anything that anyone in the diamond world will require, from designing mines to operating and running plants." - CJ: "We will have at least 15 years of mine life from underground mining at Klipspringer, but, as we continue to expand our fissure reserves, we expect to be there for a lot longer than that. So, to the people who say SUF will fade after M-1 is mined out, this is not our intention." - CJ re M-1: "If you take the grade, this is US$500-per-tonne rock and the mining costs are about US$20 per tonne, so it's phenomenal margin." - SUF's wholly owned dense-media-separation plant is running at full capacity of 100 tonnes per hour. On a daily basis, the plant processes roughly 6,000 carats from 2,000 tonnes of material. - Beginning in March, the new $2.3-mil, 50-tonne/hr treatment plant will be processing 40,000-tonne bulk sample of M-3 gravels and a 2,000-tonne bulk sample of kimberlite. Thereafter, production ore from the Ingwe section of the Leopard fissure, as well as gravels that extend south from M-1. -M-1 will be mined to a depth of 150 metres by Dec 2000. -The weathered material overlying M-3 consists of 3 metres of sand and 6 of gravel. Bulk sample of the top 2 metres of gravel generated a grade of 137 cpht. -The 1.5-km Ingwe section of Leopard fissure has an inferred resource of 1.98 million tonnes grading 70 cpht. Monthly production is expected to reach 16,000 tonnes by Dec. The Ndau section has an inferred near-surface resource of 700,000 tonnes with no grade yet. -re Camafuca, there is an option to delay the US$6.5-million payment due April 20th by adding US$500,000 to the total. - Marsfontein and Klipspringer diamonds are channelled through DeBeers' Harry Oppenheimer House, where all the rough diamonds by DeBeers in South Africa are sorted and evaluated. Approx 10 million carats are processed annually from 14 South African mines, with production from Marsfontein representing about 10% of total. - SUF will receive 10 evaluations a year geared to DeBeers' 10 annual sales or 'sights' held in the London, Lucerne and Johannesburg offices of the CSO. SUF is typically paid within two working days of a complete evaluation. ... regards ron s.