VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – With demand and prices for rough diamonds improving, and after cutting jobs and attacking operating costs earlier this year, Rockwell Diamonds is now starting to look at ways to increase output at its South African operations, chairperson David Copeland tells Mining Weekly Online.

The company has already increased production levels within its existing facilities, and managed to boost output to more than 3 000 ct in September, well above the targeted 2 500 ct, he said in an interview at the company's Vancouver offices.

“That's a huge milestone for us. And that's been driven by using the excess capacity within the existing facilities, mining more smartly, getting the turnarounds on the haulage trucks, all those things are coming together.

Beyond that, the company is relooking at its Wouterspan mine, which was put on care and maintenance in the first quarter of the year, and could bring it back on line later this year or early in 2010, Copeland said.

“We are also looking at some additional expansion or use of more capacity at Saxendrift, and actual expansion at Klipdam.”

Rockwell announced on Wednesday that it has appointed two new independent directors, and it has also hired a new – unnamed for now - COO, Copeland said.

The company continues to look for merger and acquisition opportunities, after the global recession and sharp decline in diamond prices earlier this year left many companies, including with many alluvial assets in South Africa, weakened.

Rockwell has already identified opportunities, and has also received expressions of interest from “at least three” groups interested in funding the company's plans to grow by expanding its own assets and acquiring others.

The prospective funding partners include Middle East-based investors, a diamond cutting and marketing group and an Asian investor group.

The three have indicated they would support “a good part” of the $7-million to $10-million the company wants to raise to fund its growth plans.