Helam Mining (Pty) Ltd

Helam Mine is one of the highest-grade kimberlite fissure diamond mines in South Africa recovering a total of over 4 million carats of diamonds to date and surpassing the Kimberley Big Hole in production. When the mine was discovered in 1933 it was declared an alluvial digging. However, since the 1940s the mine has successfully mined diamonds from economic fissures belonging to the Swartruggens Dyke Swarm. The Swartruggens Kimberlite Dyke Swarm is situated in the North West Province of South Africa, approximately 10 km north from the small town of Swartruggens. It is comprised of diamondiferous Group II kimberlites and a barren lamprophyre dyke. Helam Mine has been through several acquisitions and consolidations since its inception. In 1953 the mine was consolidated into Helam Mining (Pty) Ltd and Mallin Diamonds. In 1961 Helam Mining (Pty) Ltd acquired Mallin Diamonds and became the sole owner of the mine. In 2018 Helam Mining (Pty) Ltd was acquired by Lindleys Mining (Pty) Ltd from Petra Diamonds after Petra Diamonds had placed it on Care and Maintenance four years prior. As the new owners Lindley’s embarked on a journey to dewater and revive the mine in order to unlock its gross diamond resource of 3.412 million carats contained within 1.153 million tons (resource is open-ended). Dewatering started at the end of 2018 and reached shaft-bottom in June 2022. Simultaneously with dewatering the mine conducted reclamation mining on 20, 22 and 23 level. In 2023, the mine started producing fresh ore production from 24 level (>700m depth). The mine is a well-established underground fissure mine with shafts, processing plants, water supply, tailings and slime disposal areas. All water licences and environmental permits are in place (30 year mining title). Eskom power is supplied via a rural national grid connection, with back-up power generation on site. Various types of infrastructure are present in the region, which include roads, power and water.