IGE holds 100% interest in all four permits. Efidium DRC sprl is a Congolese registered subsidiary company of IGE. All Efidium’s activities are carried out in terms of the Mining laws and within the parameters of the highly acclaimed Mining Code of DRC.  Three of the Efidium permits are held by a DRC national who has a 12% after cost royaly agreement with Efidium DRC. 

The fourth permit is 100% held by IGE through the wholly owner subsidiary, Nanzambi Mining Corporation SPRL, which is also a DRC registered company.

History

Production from the diamond field was dominated by the Belgian company Societe Internationale Forestiere et Miniere du Congo ("Forminiere’) until independence in the early 1960’s. Forminiere mainly mined the ‘flats’, using a 1ct/m3 cutoff. Since then, official records of production are sketchy and unreliable as artisanal miners took control of mining in the area. Historical production from the diamond field was primarily sourced from active rivers and alluvial terraces along the river banks and, to a lesser extent, from the Kwango Formation conglomerates.

Past exploration

Since early 2005, IGE (formally PDF) has been actively exploring in the DRC Kasai Region, evaluating and assessing the diamondiferous potential of terrace deposits. Numerous areas were explored and the related permits were either relinquished or acquired to define two large target areas with excellent potential.

Follow up exploration commenced on the Mvula Milenge and Nanzambi licenses, which straddle the Tshikapa River. The "Advanced Exploration Phase”, which included extensive mapping, pitting, drilling, sampling and processing of gravels, was completed in January 2009.Terrace and other target areas were identified and delineated into a independently verified inferred resource of 3.5M carats. A river pumping and small dredging programme was initiated to evaluate the river and floodplain gravel potential.

Future exploration

The current advanced terrace exploration programme was temporarily suspended in January 2009 and placed on care and maintenance until market conditions improve. Resource areas have been delineated with the intent of starting a bulk sampling operation once the programme is resumed. All related holding costs have been paid to date and all permits are kept valid. A limited pumping programme is still in operation as the results are being assessed for future operations.

Local geology

The local geology of the Tshikapa area comprises flat Cretaceous sediments unconformably overlying the basement rocks. The Cretaceous sediments are comprised of the Loia and Bukungu Series. The Loia comprises a basal conglomerate dominated with basement clasts followed by arkoses and fine orange-brown sandstones and the Bukungu contains sandstones and local conglomerate. These formations are not diamondiferous. The Loia and Bukungu are overlain by the diamondiferous Kwango Formation. This formation is comprised of a deltaic basal conglomerate succeeded by sandstones. The Kwango Formation is covered by Kalahari Supergroup sands.

Access and Infrastructure

In order to provide heavy equipment access to both the Tshikapa and Longatshimo River projects, IGE (PDF at the time) pioneered a 4700 km overland route from South Africa through Namibia and Angola into the Southern DRC. This included the replacement or repair of bridges as well as the construction of new sections of road where these were either in disrepair or in some places, non-existent. Some of the smaller equipment has been flown to Kananga and thereafter driven by road to site. The road from Kananga to Tshikapa is in good condition and has been upgraded by Vodacom. Main access to the project is from Tshikapa on dirt roads by four wheel vehicles or motorcycle. Alternatively by air directly to site to IGE's well maintained, small airstrip adjacent to our Nanzambi permit.

A new upgraded modern camp was constructed next to the Tshikapa River in September 2007. This camp has satellite connections, potable water, electricity and superior accommodation for 12 senior staff.