Botswana Diamonds gets one of two environmental approvals for Thorny River

(Sharecast News) - Botswana Diamonds announced on Friday that it has received environmental authorisation for one of its two mining permit applications for the Thorny River project in South Africa. The AIM-traded company said it expected the full mining permit to be granted within the next six weeks, following additional community consultations.

It said the mining permit applications, submitted in late 2022, followed extensive exploration activities at Thorny River, including ground geophysics, drilling, bulk sampling, and a positive independent mine planning exercise.

The project, located six kilometres from the Marsfontein site, targeted a kimberlite blow on a kimberlite dyke system, similar in nature to Marsfontein, where a proof-of-concept operation was recently completed.

Preliminary estimates for Thorny River suggested the potential to mine 1.7 million tons of kimberlite over the project's lifespan, based on a recovered grade of 40 carats per hundred tons, mid-range diamond values of $170 per carat, and mid-range mining costs with a 10% discount rate.

"We are delighted to see that this authorisation has come through and we anticipate that the mining permit will soon be granted," said chairman John Teeling.

"The Thorny River project is well placed to restart and expand mining operations when prices recover."

At 1004 GMT, shares in Botswana Diamonds were up 15.79% at 0.22p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.