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So Ver Mine (Pty) Ltd. is one of Diamcor's wholly owned and operated South African subsidiaries. One of the Company's main assets is the So Ver Tailings Re-treatment facility located in the Barkly West District of the Northern Cape Province, within the Republic of South Africa, some 65 km northwest of Kimberley. So Ver's mining area includes the tailings and waste dump rights of portion 2 and the remaining portion of portion 2 of the farm Doornkloof 90, the remaining portion of portion 2 of the farm Doornkloof 89, portion 26 of the farm Spitskop 91, and portion 3 of farm So Ver 90. So Ver Mine (Pty) Ltd. also retains the surface rights of the farm So Ver, as well as portion 3 of the farm Doornkloof (see Maps section).
The So Ver Tailings Re-treatment facility is a modern, upgraded and well run facility which re-processes kimberlite material extracted from a number of subsurface fissure mines along an approximately 3 km of strike length, known collectively as the Ardo Dyke System. These mines have been active over some 45 years, and various mining groups continue feasibility studies to operate the underground Ardo mine adjacent to the So Ver property.
So Ver’s Tailings Re-treatment facility has consistently produced between 1,500 and 2,000 carats of mostly gem-quality diamonds each month through most of the years Diamcor has been active in South Africa. Due to the large size of the Re-treatment plant, however, Diamcor’s Management determined that the remaining tailings could not produce sufficient revenue to be cost effective, and the decision was made in 2007 to decommission the So Ver Tailings Re-treatment plant. The options remain for the Company to either process the remaining tailings with a new, smaller facility, or to sell the property to a small, low-cost producer.
In addition to the tailings, Diamcor, as the rightful owner of the mining and surface rights to the So Ver property, has entered in to an agreement with Trans Hex Operations (Pty) Ltd. (“Trans Hex”) whereby Trans Hex is entitled to sample and drill certain identified geophysical targets on the So Ver property. Diamcor is entitled to retain a 7.5% interest in any project that may follow directly from any of these exploration targets.
Experience gained by the Company from the successful operation of the So Ver Tailings Re-treatment facility has secured for Diamcor a well-earned reputation as an expert in the tailings re-treatment field.
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