| Thu 25 Sep 2008, 14:30 | | RDI - Rockwell Pre-Commissioning - New Saxendrift Diamond recovery facility |
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RDI
RDI
RDI - Rockwell Pre-Commissioning - New Saxendrift Diamond recovery facility
ahead of schedule
ROCKWELL DIAMONDS INCORPORATED
(A COMPANY INCORPORATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE LAWS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
(INCORPORATION NUMBER BCO354545)
(FORMERLY ROCKWELL VENTURES INC.)
(SOUTH AFRICAN REGISTRATION NUMBER: 2007/031582/10)
SHARE CODE ON THE JSE LIMITED: RDI ISIN: CA77434W1032
SHARE CODE ON THE TSX: RDI CUSIP NUMBER: 77434W103
SHARE CODE ON THE OTCBB: RDIAF
("ROCKWELL")
ROCKWELL PRE-COMMISSIONING
NEW SAXENDRIFT DIAMOND RECOVERY FACILITY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
OPTICAL FLOW SORT FACILITY APPLICATION A FIRST FOR THE ALLUVIAL SECTOR
September 25, 2008, Vancouver, B.C. - Rockwell Diamonds Inc. ("Rockwell" or the
"Company") (TSX: RDI; JSE: RDI; OTCBB: RDIAF) announces that it has commenced
with full scale pre-commissioning trials of its new final recovery facility at
Saxendrift well ahead of the originally scheduled date of October 10, 2008.
This facility comprises a large custom built vertical steel structure located
immediately adjacent to the new high volume Saxendrift wet Rotary-pan plant that
is in the final stages of construction. This diamond recovery facility was
constructed by the previous owner and has been reconfigured and modernized as an
integral part of the new Saxendrift wet plant diamond processing and recovery
facility.
The facility incorporates seven, flow-sort X-ray recovery machines (wet X-ray
technology), a state of the art optical sort machine, hands-off diamond recovery
units with built in secure storage capability, and integrated CCTV and security
monitoring facilities. All of these components are configured and housed in an
easily maintained modern layout. The flow sort X-ray recovery units are
configured to process and recover diamonds in the size fraction +2 mm to 32 mm
at a high level of throughput and efficiency. The flow sort units will recover
diamonds of up to about 210 carats in size.
To enhance the process efficiency of this new facility and to ensure that larger
diamonds in the size fraction up to 70 mm will also be recovered, an optical
sort machine has been introduced into the design of the Saxendrift final
recovery facility. This unit will accommodate the size fraction +32 mm to 70 mm
and allow recovery of considerably larger stones up to about 500 carats.
A review of historical data for the lower Vaal (including the Company`s Holpan
and Klipdam mines) and Middle Orange River has shown that diamonds of up to
about 400 carats have been recovered from alluvial deposits in this setting.
The machine has been commissioned successfully.
The throughput and mass balance of the new facility as currently configured has
been designed with an overall treatment capacity of about 20 tons per hour.
This will ensure that the facility is able to treat and recover diamonds from
concentrate produced by the new Saxendrift mining operation when at its full
capacity. The structure also has space and support infrastructure (e.g.
electrical power and water) to increase the production capacity of this modern
facility by adding additional X-ray flow sort equipment thereby allowing for
further expansion at Saxendrift, or processing of concentrate from other of the
Company`s Middle Orange River sites.
To improve the functionality and steady state performance of the Recovery plant,
and in particular the optical sort system, the computer control software has
been upgraded to ensure robust steady-state operational conditions and rapid
problem solving.
President and CEO John Bristow commented "Our Project Team, led by Hennie van
Wyk, has done a great job in completing and initiating pre-commissioning of the
new final-recovery facility some three weeks ahead of schedule. The greater
efficiency and inclusion of an optical sort machine that, for the first time in
the South African alluvial diamond sector, will enable recovery of diamonds
larger than 200 carats and modern layout of this facility will provide enhanced
recovery and lower operating costs. Much of the innovation made in this
facility is driven by the many years of practical hands-on experience that
Hennie van Wyk and his Team accumulated while building a successful alluvial
diamond business."
For further details on Rockwell Diamonds Inc., please visit the Company`s
website at www.rockwelldiamonds.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-
6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.
John Bristow
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in
this news release.
Forward Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements". Other than statements of historical fact all statements in this
release that address future production, reserve or resource potential,
exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that
the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based
on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market
prices, exploitation and exploration successes, changes in and the effect of
government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and
exploitation, availability of capital and financing, geopolitical uncertainty
and political and economic instability, and general economic, and market or
business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not
guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For
more information on Rockwell, Investors should review Rockwell`s annual Form 20-
F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission www.sec.com
and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Canada
25 September 2008
Sponsor
Sasfin Capital
(A division of Sasfin Bank Limited)
Date: 25/09/2008 14:30:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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