Company History
Our Story
Alexkor a diamond mining company has been actively mining since 1928. Diamonds weighing more than 10,2 million carats have been recovered from marine gravel deposits at the Alexkor Mine. Land-based mining at Alexkor is done by dry strip mining where the overburden sand is removed to expose the diamond-bearing gravels. These gravels are transported to the processing plants where diamonds are extracted and the waste material is discarded on large coarse tailings dumps and slimes dams. During the LOM some 180 million tons (Mt) of tailings and slimes have been accumulated at the 8 processing plants in the Alexkor concession area measuring approximately 100km from north to south and 7km from west to east. Since 2001 diamond mining declined drastically due to depleting resources, and the majority of the processing plants were dormant by 2016. This opened the opportunity to access the discard dumps without interfering with the day-to-day activities of diamond mining at Alexkor.
Exploration
The West Coast heavy mineral beach sands were initially investigated in the mid-1950s and again in the late 1960s, when an airborne radio-metric survey was carried out by the Geological Survey of South Africa. The coast line between Alexander Bay and Lambert‘s Bay was covered by this survey (Wipplinger, 1998). Several heavy mineral deposits were discovered between the Groen River and Alexander Bay. These are, for example, Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape Province, the Wallekraal prospect, Soutfontein and Roode Heuvel. In all these areas are diamond mining concessions, so access was restricted prior to 2004. In 2004 the new Minerals Act came to affect and the opportunity was opened to exploit heavy minerals by as well as diamonds by two different mineral rights owners on the same land.
Our Team
Vast Mineral Sands has put together a team of seasoned professionals, who understand the mining industry and the South African landscape in particular. Our team understands what it requires to develop a world class mining project.
Governance
Vast Mineral Sands remains committed to the highest principles of governance and is guided by the King IV Code of Ethics and Conduct. This code defines corporate governance as the exercise of ethical and effective leadership.
Looking Forward
Our prospecting results thus far, point towards a economically viable asset that is right alongside some of the leading mineral sands mines in the world. We look forward to taking the Alexander Bay project forward and realising the true potential of our asset.