It said today its two major shareholders and bondholders, Resource Capital Fund and Pacific Road Resources Fund remained supportive. High up in Lesotho’s Maluti Mountains is the new Liqhobong Diamond Mine, which is on track to start operations by the end of the year. Mine Life 10 years (as of Jan 1, 2020) Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent disruption of the market for diamonds, with the closure of Antwerp as a diamond market trading centre and a collapse in global demand, the Company made the difficult decision in April 2020 to place the Liqhobong Mine on an extended period of care and maintenance. Firestone is an international diamond mining company with operations in Lesotho. Gin is classy, it’s fashionable, it’s personal. The minister of home Affairs, Motlalentoa Letsosa, is going around the country assessing the readiness of... Lesotho's Leading Digital & Print newspaper. To retrieve the full story please click on the pdf icon. Firestone Diamonds will focus on the northern part of the orebody during the coming months to confirm the overall diamond value and average dollar per carat price of the lower grade kimberlite facies. Last month, a white 70-carat diamond from the same mine was auctioned for an undisclosed price, following a 46 carat diamond, also from the Liqhobong mine, which was sold for $1 million (R14.3 million) in December. A consultative process was followed to select employees required for a care and maintenance team. General Manager at Liqhobong Mine. Herbert Moyo LIQHOBONG Mine has resumed operations which were suspended early last month due to loss of transmission from the ’Muela Hydropower Station and the power interruptions on the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) power line from South Africa’s ESKOM. The Company remains in discussions with its bondholders and ABSA bank regarding a deferral of capital repayments under the ABSA debt facility for a period. Fitter & Turner at Liqhobong Mine. March 16, 2017. In addition, discussions with its senior secured lender, ABSA, were ongoing in relation to restructuring the balance of some $63.9m in debt under its $82.4m senior secured term facility. Firestone Diamonds said on Monday it had recovered a 72 carat yellow, makeable diamond from its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. Closing cash balance of US$9.6 million (Q3: US$17.3 million). Use the buttons under the map to switch to different map types provided by Maphill itself. Prior to the COVID-19 event, the Company embarked on cost saving initiatives, many of which had already started to result in savings. Firestone, which also operates another mine in Botswana, has a 75 percent interest in Liqhobong, with the government of Lesotho holding the remaining 25 percent stake. The total open pit resource contains over 17 million carats to 393m below surface level. The Reporter is Lesotho's Leading Digital newspaper. Any additional margins generated from the later sale of the diamonds beyond the mine gate will be shared equally between Mothae and the partner, the company said. Liqhobong Mine Diamond Company. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 2 December 2014 Firestone Diamonds plc Liqhobong Mine Development Project Update ... | November 14, 2020 DRA is a South African-based, dynamic project management and engineering company specialising in mining, infrastructure and mineral processing projects for the local and international minerals industry. THE pressure of downtime imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to tell on southern Africa’s diamond sector after Firestone Diamonds announced it would mothball its Lesotho mine Liqhobong for 12 months. (IDEX Online) - The power is still out at Firestone Diamonds plc's Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. 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