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The DRC is the next big thing for diamonds - Mike de Wit, president, BRC DiamondCore
In an interview on ClassicFM @ 18:15 on Thursday, 5 July 2007
[miningmx.com] -- THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had potential to become the next growth area for the diamond industry, said Mike de Wit, CEO of BRC Diamonds which today unveiled a merger with JSE-listed DiamondCore Resources.
"The place [the DRC] is very prosperous on the ground. It's the next big discovery," said DiamondCore Resources CEO, Theo Botoulas. "It is underexplored and it never really had investors look at the kimberlite in the area."
In terms of the merger, the combined company will have a primary listing in Toronto and a secondary listing in Johannesburg. Land holdings will be split between the DRC and South Africa.
Speaking on the Moneyweb Power Hour, a week nightly radio show on Radio 2000, Botoulas said there was a big shortage in diamond supply. "We need to find the next big discovery and deliver to be able to meet the demand," said
Botoulas.
"With new technologies, the merged entity would be able to do better in the DRC.
BRC was at the stage of increasing its momentum in the country," he said.
"To fasttrack the process, we had to get people that already understand what you are talking about," said de Wit who worked at De Beers for 29 years.
The merged company to be called BRC DiamondCore will have kimberlite projects in South Africa, which are in the bulk sampling phase, as well as advanced alluvial diamond exploration projects.
BRC shareholders will own 53% of the merged entity and DiamondCore Resources shareholders the remainder. The new company may have to raise capital in the market to finance its projects.
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