| Fri 28 Jan 2011, 8:02 | | RDI - ROCKWELL - Update on flooding in The Northern Cape and North West |
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RDI
RDI
RDI - ROCKWELL - Update on flooding in The Northern Cape and North West
Provinces
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 PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON FLOODING IN THE NORTHERN CAPE AND NORTH WEST
PROVINCES
January 27, 2011 - Johannesburg, South Africa and Vancouver, BC - Rockwell
Diamonds Inc. ("Rockwell" or the "Company") (TSX:RDI; JSE:RDI, OTCBB:RDIAF)
provides an operational update following heavy rainfall and subsequent
flooding in the Northern Cape and North West provinces in South Africa.
The Company announces that the alluvial mining operations in the Northern
Cape Province have been affected by the recent heavy rainfall and subsequent
flooding. The rainfall at the Holpan and Klipdam operations, which are
situated north of Kimberly at Barkley West, have experienced 342mm or 75% of
the average annual rainfall of 450mm for the region in the past six days. In
particular, precipitation during the night of Sunday January 23, 2011
exceeded 100mm. The impact has been as follows:
- Flooding in the area resulted in minor infrastructure damage at the mines
and mining roadway infrastructure remains intact;
- The most significant impact of the heavy rains has been on mining
activities with the loss of five days` production;
- Repairs and recovery operations were initiated immediately and mining
operations resumed on Wednesday January 25, 2011;
- Damp gravels will affect production at the mines for several more days
until they dry out fully; and
- Damage to the municipal infrastructure, including roads and railways, has
not affected operations.
The Company also assisted local communities in the Holpan area to divert
floodwater away from flooded residential areas which assisted in avoiding any
injuries during the flood. In addition, no environmental impacts have
occurred.
The Saxendrift operation, located on the Middle Orange River region,
experienced sporadic rainfall measuring 189mm; this represents more than half
of the average rainfall for this area during the two week period to Sunday
January 23, 2011. While no flooding or damage occurred, the heavy rainfall
has negatively affected production volumes with the loss of three mining
days. Saxendrift is now once again operating at full production.
At the Tirisano Mine north of Ventersdorp in the North West Province,
construction has been slightly delayed due to the heavy rainfall. Sufficient
drainage systems were planned and commissioned into the initial layouts to
prevent flooding. Construction continues and the completion date of March
2011 remains intact.
Chief Operating Officer, Graham Chamberlain commented, "Our mine management
teams have done a great job in minimising the impact of these abnormal rains
and its comforting to see how quickly the operations have responded. We have
a great set of assets and a very dedicated and passionate team and our focus
is now to see what we can do to recover the lost time and strive to meet our
targets despite the interruptions. Also it has been a learning opportunity
whereby we can ensure we engineer our new projects to mitigate against
similar events."
About Rockwell Diamonds:
Rockwell Diamonds is an established alluvial diamond producer holding a 74%
interest in the Holpan, Klipdam, Saxendrift and Wouterspan operations and the
Niewejaarskraal development project. The Company`s large footprint of diamond
deposits are in South Africa with a focus on the Middle Orange River, an area
historically known for recovering excellent quality, large gemstones.
Rockwell has operations at Holpan, Klipdam and Saxendrift, which it is
progressively optimizing, the Klipdam Extension, with a bulk sampling project
and an excellent pipeline of other advanced alluvial diamond projects. The
Company`s primary focus is to add value to existing operations, while
aggressively seeking to acquire superior, advanced stage projects.
Rockwell`s success lies in the recovery of big stones on a regular basis and
most of the company`s production is larger than 2 carats -- a niche diamond
production opportunity. Diamonds in excess of 100 carats, which can yield
exceptional prices, are recovered from all of its mining operations.
Currently the company is producing over 2500 carats monthly with an estimated
22 years mine life based on existing resources.
Rockwell is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the
symbol RDI, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) under the symbol RDI and
on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) under the symbol RDIAF.
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information
contained in this news release.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities
law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as
"plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate"
and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions
"may" or "will" occur. 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 uncertainties and costs related to
exploration and development activities, such as those related to determining
whether mineral resources exist on a property; uncertainties related to
expected production rates, timing of production and cash and total costs of
production and milling; uncertainties related to the ability to obtain
necessary licenses, permits, electricity, surface rights and title for
development projects; operating and technical difficulties in connection with
mining development activities; uncertainties related to the accuracy of our
mineral resource estimates and our estimates of future production and future
cash and total costs of production and diminishing quantities or grades if
mineral resources; uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory
procedures or changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and
government policies affecting our mining operations; changes in general
economic conditions, the financial markets and the demand and market price
for mineral commodities such and diesel fuel, steel, concrete, electricity,
and other forms of energy, mining equipment, and fluctuations in exchange
rates, particularly with respect to the value of the US dollar, Canadian
dollar and South African Rand; changes in accounting policies and methods
that we use to report our financial condition, including uncertainties
associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates; environmental
issues and liabilities associated with mining and processing; geopolitical
uncertainty and political and economic instability in countries in which we
operate; and labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or
difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we operate our
mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents or other events or
occurrences, including third party interference that interrupt operation of
our mines or development projects.
For further 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 the Company`s home jurisdiction filings that are
available at www.sedar.com.
28 Jan 2011
Sponsor:
Sasfin Capital
(a division of Sasfin Bank Limited)
Date: 28/01/2011 08:02:04 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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