Kimberley Diamonds' Botswana Mine to Be Auctioned Online

(Bloomberg) -- A diamond mine in Botswana will be offered for sale at an online auction after its liquidators failed to secure viable offers.

Online bids for the Lerala Diamond Mine open at 5 p.m. on May 24 and run through 2 p.m. on May 30, according to a statement published in the weekly Monitor newspaper by the auctioneers, GoIndustry DoveBid.

Lerala, which is owned by Sydney-based Kimberley Diamonds Ltd., was placed under judicial management in June last year due to weak sales and high operating costs. Lerala produced about 59,000 carats in the year leading up to its closure, compared with a published target of 357,000 carats a year, over a seven-year lifespan.

On offer are five kimberlite pipes ranging from 0.16 hectare to 2.35 hectares in area, mining rights, a 200 metric tons per hour processing plant, a 4.2 megawatt diesel generator and other assets. Bidders are required to place a refundable deposit of 5 million pula ($509,000).

The mine has probable reserves of 5 million tons at a grade of 31 carats per 100 tons and inferred resources of 10.3 million tons at 31 carats per 100 tons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mbongeni Mguni in Botswana at mmguni@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Hilton Shone at hshone@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson

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