MV Kovambo commenced commissioning operations in the company’s Luderitz
Bay concession in January 1998. Production capacity is scheduled to build up to 100% efficiency by June 1998. The company has anticipated and allowed for additional enhancements to the mining system during its build up to full production. The enhancements include modifications to the launch and recovery system to considerably speed that process and additional production monitoring techniques.
Preliminary diamond grade and diamond size is fully in line with the
company’s expectations as previously announced in the results of its bulk
sampling program.
The NamSSol is a 120 ton seabed crawler which has been specifically
developed for operation off the coast of Namibia by Namco’s internal project team, Dresser Industries company SubSea Offshore and Dosco Overseas Engineering. SubSea is the leader in remote operated vehicle technology and Dosco is a specialist in tracked mining machines having built more than 2,600 excavating tools for the mining industry.
A mining plan has been developed based on a resource in the Koichab
prospect (a four sq km area) with an average grade of 0.62 carats per sq m. The average diamond size is 0.36 carats with an estimated value of circa US$190 per carat. The Koichab prospect is 12 nautical miles from the initial diamond discovery area in Namibia in 1908, which yielded 11 million carats of gem quality diamonds.
The company’s full production target is 150 000 carats per annum which
will increase total Namibian marine production by 20%.
