Nyota Minerals Regulatory News (NYO)

4 May 2006 09:03

Dwyka Diamonds Limited04 May 2006 Dwyka Diamonds Limited ("Dwyka" or "the Company") Diamond processing commences at De Beers Tailings JV, South Africa Dwyka, the AIM and ASX quoted diamond developer and producer, today announcesthat processing of tailings for diamond extraction has commenced from the DeBeers Kimberley dumps, South Africa. The first ore was processed on 21 April2006 and regular ore deliveries from De Beers have commenced from thesurrounding tailings dumps. The first ore flowed smoothly through the plant and the benefits of capacityenhancements undertaken during construction have been immediately obvious. Theseenhancements should enable the operation to shortly realise its first benchmarkof 50,000 tonnes per month of throughput. Commissioning of componentsdownstream of the ore preparation circuit will take place progressively as theplant fills with process slurry. A limited amount of mechanical work remains to be completed in the diamondrecovery area. This is largely restricted to x-ray sorting equipment. Anautomated grease belt has been installed and is operational. Completion of therecovery section will coincide with the filling of concentrate surge capacitybetween the dense media separation section and the recovery section. Dwyka retains 40% equity in the retreatment operation through Supermix, its 100%owned South African subsidiary. The balance of the project is held by Dwyka'spreferred BEE partner, Kolong Investments. Commenting today Adrian Griffin, CEO, said: "This sees our fifth productionasset commencing operations and we are working hard to reach our first benchmarkof 50,000 tonnes throughput per month. Building on the success of ourrevenue-generating assets, we shall be aggressively pursuing our explorationprojects, which include a second joint venture with De Beers in Tanzania and theBosele Project in South Africa." For further information please contact: In Australia: In United Kingdom: Adrian Griffin Laurence Read/ Leesa Peters Dwyka Diamonds Limited Conduit PR +61 (0) 8 9324 2955 +44 (0) 20 7429 6605/ +44 (0) 7979 955 923 Or visit: http://www.dwykadiamonds.com/ This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange