Midex Gold Corp. – OTCBB: MXGD
Corporate Overview
Midex Gold Corp. is positioned to take advantage of Tanzania’s rich mineral resources by developing a select portfolio of near-term gold and diamond production projects. With the company’s network of strategic relationships with senior mining professionals and government officials in Tanzania, it is poised to identify key mining concession targets that are ready to be developed.
The world-renown Williamson Diamond Mine is located directly next to Midex’s Magembe Property.
Our Crown Jewel – the Magembe Property
The Magembe Property is part of a two-kilometre buffer zone created to surround the Williamson Mine (aka Mwadui) when it was developed in the 1940s and 50s. This buffer zone was formed to prohibit the mining of near-surface diamond deposits in the area immediately adjacent to the mining operation. The Williamson mine is owned 75 per cent by De Beers and 25 per cent by the government of Tanzania, and has a production history that spans six decades. The Williamson pipe covers 360 acres and was considered to be the largest economically exploitable pipe in the world. The mine is the original source of pink diamonds and has produced notable stones including a 54-carat flawless pink diamond and a 388-carat diamond found in 1990. South African-based Petra Diamonds is currently negotiating to purchase the mine.
Properties
- Magembe Project
The Magembe Project is directly adjacent to the world famous Williamson Mine (click to enlarge)
Located in northern Tanzania, the Magembe Project is a diamond exploration target that surrounds the Williamson Diamond Mine (aka the Mwadui Mine), and is part of the old buffer zone once surrounding the mine where exploration was prohibited. In 2003 the Mining Act was reformed, and Midex acquired the property in 2009. Click here to view a Google Map of the area.
The Magembe property is consists of one claim covering 46.05 km², PL 3920 and is located along the main paved highway between Shinyanga and Mwanza, approximately 35 km NNW of Shinyanga town. The land is flat and moderately vegetated with slightly elevated ground in the northern part. Many of the rivers and streams are flowing to the south, west and east directions.
The Mwadui kimberlite was discovered by Canadian geologist Dr John Williamson in 1940. The kimberlite pipe covers 1.46 km² and was ranked then as the largest economically exploitable pipe in the world. No other economic pipe of this size has been mined since. In 2006, diamond production at Williamson Diamonds Limited totaled 189,396 carats, marginally lower than in 2005 when 190,384 carats were produced. The gravel mining operations remain marginal due to lower recoverable grades.
The Mwadui Property is located in the Tanzania Craton of Archaean age, which is comprised of granitoid, mafic and ultramafic volcanics and intrusives, schistose meta-sediments, quartzite, porphyry (dykes and masses) and felsic volcanics. The property geology is dominated by biotite-granite with large outcrops exposed in the western part of the license. Outcrops of porphyritic granite and granodiorite were also documented in the western part of the area.
The Williamson Diamond Mine located directly next to the Midex’s Magembe Property.
The currently known diamond mineralization at Magembe occurs as alluvial occurrences located in the southern part of the area. Illegal alluvial mining activity by local miners is evident on the Magembe property. This is an extension of the region-wide informal diamond mining from which the Shinyanga region is famous. Alluvial diamonds seem to be associated with the transported gravels that are believed to be derived from known diamondiferous kimberlites located within and/or around the Mwadui Mine. The primary source of diamonds is kimberlite intrusions. So far, no kimberlite has been identified in the area by surface geological mapping however most of the area lies under recent cover.
Recent soil and stream sediments sampling program in the northern part was completed with the objective of identifying pathfinder minerals associated with a kimberlite intrusion over airborne magnetic anomalies.
A property-wide reconnaissance scale phase I exploration program was completed by Canaco Resources in March 2007. The program consisted of mapping and sampling of both kimberlite and alluvial targets. Canaco subsequently undertook a soil and stream sediment-sampling program in the northern part of the property was completed with the objective of identifying pathfinder minerals associated with a kimberlite intrusion over airborne magnetic anomalies.
- Williamson Diamond Mine
The Williamson Diamond Mine (also known as the Mwadui mine) is the most famous diamond mine in Tanzania. It originally became well known as the first significant diamond mine outside of South Africa. It was established in 1940 by Dr. John Williamson, a Canadian geologist, and has been in continuous operation since then, making it one of the oldest continuously operating diamond mines in the world. During its lifetime it has produced over 19 million carats (3,800 kg) of diamonds. The Williamson mine was originally owned by Dr. Williamson and is now majority owned 75% by De Beers with the government of Tanzania owning the remaining 25 %.
The Williamson diamond mine is a large open pit mine currently about 90 meters (300 ft) deep. Diamond mining operations at the mine are composed of four distinct activities: mining of the pit, re-treatment of tailings to recover missed diamonds, and gravel mining both on the property and adjacent to the property where gravel has been alluvially deposited. The open pit mining and tailings re-treatment are the largest of the four operations. The mine currently employs about 1,100 staff, mostly Tanzanians.
Location
The mine is located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the town of Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, in the Shinyanga region. Dr. Williamson, the discoverer of the site and first owner, named the site “Mwadui” after a local chief; “Williamson” and “Mwadui” are now virtually synonymous in the diamond mining world.
Geology
The most important geological feature of the Williamson diamond mine is the kimberlite pipe on which it is located. At 1.46 square kilometers in area at surface level, it ranks as the largest economically exploitable diamond-bearing volcanic pipe in the world. Recent exploratory drill cores conducted by De Beers have indicated that the pipe is a pyroclastic kimberlite, not a hypabyssal kimberlite as earlier suspected. This indicates that it may be possible to extend the current 90-meter deep open pit to as much as 350 meters deep, and continue down even further with underground mining operations.
Production
The Williamson diamond mine is now characterized by low ore grade of about 6 carats (1,200 mg) per hundred tons (12 mg/t) of ore. This is a dramatic decrease from its production in the mine’s early life; during the first 25 years of operation, average ore grade was about 30 carats (6.0 g) per hundred tons (60 mg/t); in the first few years of full operation grades were as high as 62 carats (12 g) per hundred tons (124 mg/t), or 10 times the ore grade realized today. Production in the 1950s and 1960s was usually between 500,000 and 750,000 carats (100 and 150 kg) per year; the peak year of production was 1966, when 924,984 carats (185 kg) were produced. Today production levels for all Williamson mine diamond recovery activities is about 300,000 carats (60 kg) per year.
Notable Diamonds
Notable diamonds produced at the Williamson mine include 54 carat (10.8 g) flawless pink diamond (presented to then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip upon their wedding in 1947), and a 388 carat (77.6 g) diamond found in 1990.
History
The diamond industry of Tanzania in the 1930s was characterized by a scattering of very small mining operations that were insignificant in the economic makeup of the country. Dr. Williamson was hired by one of these operations, the Mabuki diamond mine, in 1938 and used it as his base for diamond prospecting in the region. In 1940 he discovered the Mwadui kimberlite pipe; over the next several years he developed the mine, although he was hindered by difficulty in procuring equipment and raising funds due to World War II. By the 1950s he had developed the Williamson diamond mine into the first significant diamond mine in Tanzania, with state of the art equipment and a labor force of several thousand. The mine was noted for numerous technical innovations in diamond mining which were developed under Williamson’s watch. Williamson closely managed the mine until his death in 1958 at the age of 50.
Williamson’s heirs sold the mine for about £4 million GBP to an equal partnership between De Beers and the colonial government of Tanganyika on August 13, 1958. In 1971, a decade after Tanzania’s independence, the government nationalized the mine. Although details are unknown, De Beers and other diamond industry players speculate that mine performance deteriorated significantly in the 1980s under government management. Suspected causes of this are a decrease in ore grade as the mine’s richer deposits were worked out, loss of skilled foreign management and engineering staff, a bloated labor force resulting from government employment efforts, and inadequate capital investment in the mine’s equipment. Perhaps as a result of this poor performance, Tanzania invited De Beers to purchase back into the mine, which the company decided to do. In 1994 De Beers bought 75% of the Williamson mine, with Tanzania retaining the remaining shares.
Since 1994, De Beers has acted to improve the performance of the Williamson diamond mine by trimming work force, making needed capital investments in equipment, and bringing in expertise in technology, technique, and exploration. Although the mine is still viewed as a marginal performer due to its low ore grade, De Beers has identified several possible avenues for development that would keep the mine operating well into the future.
References
Tassell, Arthur. African Mining Magazine. “Williamson – A Bright Future Ahead?”. Brooke Pattrick Publications.
De Beers Group official website. “De Beers Group: Tanzania”. Retrieved April 18, 2005.
Knight, John & Stevenson, Heather. “The Williamson Diamond Mine, De Beers, and the Colonial Office: A Case-Study of the Quest for Control,” Journal of Modern African Studies [Cambridge University Press], Vol. 24, No. 3 (September, 1986) 423-445. Available through JSTOR at [1]
Chopra, Jarat. “Tanganyika Diamond Presented to Princess Elizabeth,” Old Africa, No. 21 (February-March 2009) 16-17.
Chopra, Jarat. “Princess Margaret Hosted in Mwanza,” Old Africa, No. 22 (April-May 2009) 20-22.
Management & Directors
Midex Gold’s unique and multi-skilled team of professionals is in the process of acquiring and developing the company’s precious mineral projects. These professionals have years of experience developing junior exploration companies and mines, some of which now have major roles in the global mineral industry. Management also has well-established relationships with prominent industry consultants who will help build the company.
Morgan Magella
President
Morgan Magella has an extensive background in geology. For the past nine years, Mr. Magella has been the Chief Geologist for GD Exploration, a private company, based in the Peoples Republic of Congo.
Corporate Ethics
Midex Gold is committed to operating under strict legal and ethical standards of all jurisdictions it works within, as well as to improve working conditions and remuneration for its Tanzanian geologists and laborers.
Contact information
Corporate Information
Midex Gold Corp.
Email: corp@midexgold.com
Investor Information
Midex Gold Corp.
Email: info@midexgold.com
