The Finsch diamond mine, located near Lime Acres, 160km northwest of Kimberley, is one of seven operations managed by De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), formed in July 2004 as the wholly owned South African mining subsidiary of Luxembourg-based DB Investments / De Beers SA. This restructuring created a company that can be empowered under the terms of South Africa’s Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act. Discovered in 1961 during exploration for asbestos, the deposit was first developed as an open pit. Since 1991, production has come from the underground mine beneath the old pit. Production in 2004 totalled 2.11Mct -15% of total DBCM output - from 5.77Mt of kimberlite ore, giving a recovered grade of 36.5 carats per 100t of ore.

[Source: www.mining-technology.com]

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