Ellendale Set to Come Back Onstream This Year

RAPAPORT… Burgundy Diamond Mines will begin commercial production from its Ellendale deposit in Australia before the end of the year.

The company is getting the mine ready to resume operations after it was on long-term care and maintenance, it said Wednesday. Burgundy will explore both the Ellendale and adjoining Blina projects over the next six months and will set up a bulk-sampling plant by the end of the second quarter.

The miner also completed its AUD 1 million ($739,264) second payment for Ellendale. Under the terms of its deal with former owner Gibb River, it made an initial payment of AUD 1.7 million ($1.3 million) and will transfer a final installment of AUD 4 million ($3 million) in 2023.

Burgundy has been working with French jeweler Bäumer Vendôme on a branded collection using colored diamonds from Ellendale, as well as those from third-party retailers. The miner will debut that “ultra-luxury diamond brand” in Paris in July, followed by a global launch later in the year.

“We are pleased to be able to reaffirm our interest in developing the Ellendale diamond project and commit to the second year of the option period,” said Burgundy managing director Peter Ravenscroft. “This remains a core part of our strategy of securing sources of fancy-color rough diamonds to feed into our broader business of cutting, polishing and selling diamonds through profit-sharing agreements with the world’s leading design jewelers.”

Image: Yellow diamonds from the Ellendale mine. (Burgundy Diamond Mines)