DiamondCorp has been granted the mining right for the Lace diamond mine in South Africa. The grant provides the company with the legal tenure and operating framework required to mine at Lace for more than 20 years. DiamondCorp owns a 74 percent stake in the Lace mine and with its two Black Economic Empowerment partners, Shanduka Resources (Pty) Limited and Sphere Investments (Pty) Limited, has been redeveloping the site, which last operated in 1930.

Lace is set to produce more than 500,000 carats of diamonds per year at peak production, which DiamondCorp expects to reach in 2010. Company CEO Paul London said he expects the mine to show profitability even as it starts production in the current challenging market conditions. He added that production will rise to 3,000 tonnes a day by mid-2009 and to 4,000 tonnes a day by 2010.

Approximately 35 million tonnes of kimberlite have been outlined in the main Lace pipe, containing an estimated 13.8 million carats of diamonds at an average grade of 42 carats per hundred tonnes with an in-ground value of around ZAR10 billion ($1 billion).