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Letseng La Terai

Producer in Lesotho with commodity Diamond
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Production statistics
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080050
MRDS ID W031005
Record type Site
Current site name Letseng La Terai
Alternate or previous names Letseng-La-Terai

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 28.88481, -29.02982 (WGS84)
Elevation 3100
Relative position 82 KILOMETERS FROM LERIBE AND 37 KILOMETERS FROM MOKHOTLONG (NEAR NORTH-EASTERN BORDER OF LESOTHO)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lesotho(country)

Federal lands

Federal(land status)

Geographic areas

Country
Lesotho

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Diamond Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bronzite Gangue
Chromite Gangue
Diopside Gangue
Pyrope Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Yellow Ground 1 Meter Thick

Analytical data

Result 0.028 CARATS/TON ORE (1980)
Result 0.031 CARATS/TON (1979)
Result 0.035 CARATS/TON (1978)
Result 0.033 CARATS/TON (1977). 13 % OF DIAMONDS GT 10 CARATS
Result 87 % LT 10 CARATS.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Kimberlite Intrusions;Karoo Stormberg Basaltic Lavas;Gneisses, Granulites
    Rock description Kimberlite Intrusions;Karoo Stormberg Basaltic Lavas;Gneisses, Granulites
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite > Kimberlite

Nearby scientific data

(1) 28.88481, -29.02982
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form ELLIPTICAL/VERTICAL
    Depth to bottom 1500M

Comments on the geologic information

  • PIPES PENETRATE 1.5 KM OF KAROO BASALTIC LAVAS

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1957
Discoverer P.H. Nixon
Year of first production 1977

Mining district

District name Lesotho Kimberlite Pipe

Land status

Ownership category Federal

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner De Beers Consolidated Mines
  • Type Owner
    Owner Ownership Distribution: { 75 % De Beers Consolidated Mines 25 % Government Of Lesotho

Production statistics

  • Year 1980
    Material DIA ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^2.82 Carats Per 100 Tons

Comments on the production information

  • LOWER GRADES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED IN LATTER YEARS, DUE TO TREATMENT OF ORE FROM THE SATELLITE PIPE.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ACTUAL RESERVES UNKNOWN, BUT MINE IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE A LIFE OF 8 YEARS.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 20.599HA

Comments on the workings information

  • THE SATELLITE PIPE IS BEING MINED TO A DEPTH OF 10 METERS. AREA FIGURE INCLUDES BOTH PIPES.

Comments on development

  • A PAST PRODUCER (62000 CARATS PRIOR TO 1968). RIO TINTO DID DEVELOPMENT WORK 1968-1972 TOTALING $3,008,255, THEN WITHDREW. DEBEERS TOOK OVER IN 1974 AND BEGAN PRODUCTION LATE 1976. ; MILL.CAP: 1460 ; ECON.YEAR: 1976

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BLOOMER, A.G. AND NIXON, P.H., 1973, THE GEOLOGY OF LETSENG- LA - TERAE KIMBERLITE PIPES: IN LESOTHO KIMBERLITES; EDITED BY NIXON, P.H., P. 20-32, LESOTHO NATL DEV CORP

  • Deposit

    MINING MAGAZINE, JANUARY, 1987, P. 62.

  • Deposit

    1968 DIREXPL RIO TINTO EXPLORATION (PTY) LTD

  • Deposit

    1973 DIREXPL DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES LTD

  • Production

    DE BEERS ANNUAL REPORTS 1967 - 1980

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit TWO PIPES, CALLED "MAIN PIPE" (K6) AND A SMALLER "SATELLITE PIPE." PIPES PENETRATE 1.5 KM OF KAROO STROMBERG BASALTIC LAVAS AND SEDIMENTS. MAIN PIPE TAPERS DOWNWARDS BUT SATELLITE PIPE EXPANDS DOWNWARDS, AT LEAST TO DEPTH OF 150 M.
Deposit OPERATIONS HAD BEEN SUSPENDED IN JANUARY, 1987.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1981 Mccarter, Lorna D. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUL-1982 Mccarter, Lorna D. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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