Lonrho Regulatory News (LONR)

21 Apr 2006 12:46

Lonrho Africa PLC21 April 2006 21 April 2006 LONRHO AFRICA PLC ("Lonrho Africa" or "the Company") 235 Carat Diamond recovered in South Africa Lonrho Africa is pleased to announce that Nare Diamonds Limited ("Nare") hasrecovered a very rare 235 carat diamond from its Schmidtsdrift Diamond Mine inSouth Africa. The large-sized gemstone is octahedron in shape and of very goodquality according to a third party assessor. "This is a substantial find as diamonds of this size are a very rare occurrence"Nare's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Charles Mostert, said today. Lonrho Africa acquired a 17% stake in Nare on the 11th April 2006. LonrhoAfrica's Chief Executive Mr David Lenigas is to become non-Executive Chairman ofNare. "Lonrho Africa views the timing of the Nare investment as very fortuitous andthe discovery of such a large gem diamond shows the potential for considerableupside on this investment", said David Lenigas. NARE DIAMONDS LIMITED Nare is headed up by Mr Charles Mostert (ex Director of Crown Diamonds which wastaken over by London listed Petra Diamonds PLC) with diamond interestsconsisting of a combination of production and exploration projects in SouthAfrica. These projects are the Schmidtsdrift Diamond Mine (80% interest), theKlipspringer Joint Venture (20% interest), the Groen River Project (100%interest) and the Kamfersdam Kimberlite Pipe and tailings operation (100%interest). Diamond production at the Schmidtsdrift Mine commenced in March 2006. The mineis located some 80km north west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province andconsists of 31,227 hectares of highly potential diamondiferous gravel deposits.Previous mining activities at Schmidtsdrift yielded 33,679 carats with anaverage stone size of 1.14 carats. Infrastructure on the Schmidtsdrift Mine is well developed and the assetinventory includes state-of-the-art diamond recovery plant and equipment. Miningoperations are sub-contracted to experienced operators. Nare's second diamond operation, the Kamfersdam tailings operation, is expectedto be commissioned by 1st May 2006. Ends For further information, please contact: Lonrho Africa PlcDavid Lenigas, Chief Executive +44 (0)7881 825 378Emma Priestley, Executive Director +44 (0)7867 785 177 Strand Partners Limited +44 (0)20 7409 3494Simon Raggett +44 (0)7769 883 666 Cardew Group +44 (0)20 7930 0777Nadja Vetter +44 (0)7941 340 436Eden Mendel +44 (0)7866 525 836Emma Consett +44 (0)7971 468 308 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange