Trans Hex Group‘s Mv Ivan Prinsep has returned to Namibia’s coastal waters after weighing anchor from a joint venture with Diamond Fields International (DFI-T) in the area earlier this summer.
The 996-tonne vessel, equipped with a 40-tonne-per-hour, dense-media-separation plant, has begun diamond sampling activities off the coast of Namibia under a short-term charter contract with De Beers Marine.
The Prinsep had been sailing on the Marshall Fork marine diamond deposit, but was replaced with Trans Hex’s more advanced MV Namakwa before the joint venture sailed into stormy waters and broke up in early July.
In a prepared release, Trans Hex said the pair had been at loggerheads over mining recovery rates since November, when actual mining began. The two finally split over differences in the interpretation of specified mining rates. Diamond Fields, accepted the repudiation of the joint venture, but didn’t rule out legal recourse.
With US$15 million in hand from Overseas Private Investment, a U.S. governmental agency, DFI plans to continue work on Marshall Fork on its own and is working on getting the first of two of its own vessels. The boats will be equipped with dual, 24-inch standard airlift vessels, which are expected to cover 188% more seabed area than the MV Namakwa, with its 20-inch pipes.
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