RAPAPORT… Gem Diamonds has sold its Ghaghoo mine in Botswana for $5.4
million, following a two-year search for a buyer.
Pro Civil, a Botswana-based company, will acquire the asset, which has been on care and maintenance since March 2017. The company will also take on environmental responsibility for the deposit, Gem Diamonds said Thursday.
“This sale is in line with our strategic objective to
dispose of non-core assets,” said Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick. “[We]
remain focused on optimizing production and efficiency at the Letšeng mine in
Lesotho.”
Ghaghoo opened in 2014 but was mothballed after the average price for its rough slid from
$210 to $142 per carat between early 2015 and late 2016. Gem Diamonds was in discussions to sell the mine in August 2017, but those talks fell through, and the
company had since been unable to find a buyer.
Gem Diamonds expects the sale to be completed in the third
quarter.
Image: The Ghaghoo mine. (Gem Diamonds)
Gem Diamonds Offloads Ghaghoo Mine
The Bottom Line
- Gem Diamonds sold the Ghaghoo mine, which has been on care and maintenance since March 2017, to Botswana-based Pro Civil for $5.4 million.
- The sale includes transferring environmental responsibility for the deposit to Pro Civil.
- Gem Diamonds aims to focus on optimizing production and efficiency at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho by divesting non-core assets.
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