.K.-registered diamond company DiamondCorp announced that it has met all the necessary conditions in order to secure a loan from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to develop a diamond mine in South Africa.



If the loan is granted in mid-September as expected, the funds will be used to develop a block cave on the 47 Level at the Lace mine, in the Free State. DiamondCorp, which owns a 74% stake in the Lace mine, will require additional funding to the tune of $12.3 million from other South African commercial banks if it is to carry out the plans to develop the mine.



Approval for the $33 million loan was secured after the IDC completed its analysis of DiamondCorp operations and the local power utility, state-owned Eskom, committed to providing the additional electric power that will be necessary in order to complete the work, according to Mining Weekly.