Petra Diamonds has received ministerial consent for a transfer of the mining rights to the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa, pursuant to the company's acquisition of the mine from De Beers.



The only outstanding condition remaining to be fulfilled before the acquisition of the diamond mine is completed is for Petra to register the new mining right with the South Africa Mineral and Petroleum Titles Registration Office.



Petra Diamonds CEO Johan Dippenaar said that the mine acquisition was in the final stages and he expected it to conclude in the near future, adding that the Finsch mine – after an initial three-month period – was expected to boost Petra's diamond production by some 125,000 carats a month.