LOXTON DAL
Mine Background
The Loxton Dal Diamond Mine is situated 25km northeast of Kimberley on the farm Loxton Dal No 1610, Boshoff District, Free State Province of South Africa. It is adjacent to the Kimberley/ Boshoff gravel road, accessible via a dirt road, approx 17km long, connecting the regional tarred R64 road to Kimberley (see map below).
Discovered in 1965, the mine has a total mining area of over 88 hectares and an estimated resource of 3.28 million tonnes of kimberlite ore. Loxton Dal benefits from a long mining history and its close proximity to Kimberley, an important mining hub for labour, services and materials related to diamond mining.
The Loxton Dal Mine property and surrounding farms have considerable prospecting potential. The Loxton Dal kimberlite pipe is located on a complex of two adjoining kimberlite blows at the intersection of a prominent fissure that trends approximately northeast and north. The complex is believed to be on the same structure as the diamondiferous Loskop dyke structure approximately 8km to the southwest and the Southern-fissures kimberlite fissure system situated to the northeast. These kimberlitic bodies form a complex of kimberlitic material in which the northeastern member is referred to as the East Pipe, the member to the immediate southwest of this being referred to as the Central Pipe, and lastly, the furthest adjoining member to the southwest is referred to as the West Fissure.
Multiple owners and operators have managed or exploited the Loxton Dal Diamond Mine since its discovery in 1965. The table below details the operational and ownership history of Loxton Dal.
The Loxton Dal Diamond Mine has been under care and maintenance since 2002; major re-instatement and refurbishment of the mining equipment, winder and process plant and other infrastructure have been commenced by SSC Diamond in 2010.