DiamondCorp (LON:DCP) said it has begun the ramp up towards commercial production from the Upper K4 (UK4) Block of the company’s Lace Mine in South Africa’s Free State.
It is significant milestone for the company, which has thus far has extracted diamonds from tailings or from the material brought to surface during mine development.
Output from UK4 is scheduled to be 4,000 tonnes of ore per month from January to March next year, rising to 15,000 tonnes from April to June, before hitting a steady-state 30,000 tonnes a month thereafter.
Chief executive Paul Louden said: "Today is an historic day for the Lace mine as it marks the start of the ramp up towards commercial production from underground at Lace for the first time since October 1930.”