Heavy Rains in South Africa Prevent Diamond Mining

(IDEX Online News) - Heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding in the Northern Cape and North West provinces in South Africa have damaged municipal infrastructure and caused a loss of production days at mining operations in the region.

According to an operational update, Rockwell Diamonds Inc. lost five mining days. The rainfall at the Holpan and Klipdam operations, which are situated north of Kimberly at Barkley West, have experienced 342 millimeter, or 75 percent of the average annual rainfall for the region, in the past six days.

In particular, precipitation during the night of Sunday January 23, 2011 exceeded 100 millimeter. As a result of the severe weather, flooding caused minor infrastructure damage at the mines.  

Repairs and recovery operations were initiated immediately and mining operations resumed on January 25.

Further damage includes damp gravels that will affect production at the mines for several more days until they fully dry out.

Rockwell reports that while there was some damage to the municipal infrastructure, including roads and railways, this has not affected the company's diamond operations.