Miner Rockwell Diamonds has a plan to increase its output sharply over the next five years, from the current 2,500 ct/m to 10,000 ct/m, CEO John Bristow said.

According to Mining Weekly, the company, which mines high-value diamonds from alluvial mines in South Africa, announced the acquisition of Etruscan Diamonds' Blue Gum project, in the Ventersdorp area of South Africa.

“We are very aggressively looking to grow Rockwell and we have looked at several assets in the past year or two,” Bristow said.

The website added that the deposit at Ventersdorp contains white diamonds, in the 1-10 carat range, “which fits perfectly into the growing Chinese market."

Rockwell said it offered to pay about C$4.65 million for 74% of the Blue Gum project, and that the company will also assume certain "nonmaterial property maintenance obligations" effective immediately and other financial obligations when the deal is completed, it said. The other 26% of the asset is owned by black economic-empowerment partners.

The deal is still subject to a number of conditions, including the transfer of the mineral rights from Etruscan to Rockwell, and agreements to secure power supply from State utility Eskom.