Diamond company Gem has decided to removed one of its processing plants from active duty and put it on care and maintenance status, Rough and Polished reports. Gem Diamonds spokesperson Kavis Kario announced that the processing plant at its Ghaghoo diamond mine in Botswana would be mothballed at present.

Kario said that for the next twelve months at least, a metallurgist contracted by the firm would both safeguard the plant and analyze it operations, so as to develop better working practices.

Production at the Ghaghoo mine, was expected to produce approximately 100,000 carats per year at first, and then to eventually ramp up to a maximum rate of about 780,000 carats per year. But then last May, two mine workers were killed when the ground at the entrance to the mine collapsed. Kario added that Gem has improved its safety protocols in the year that has elapsed, according to Rough and Polished.