:: US$27m Contract for Marine Diamond Treatment Plant

Bateman Engineering is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by De Beers Marine (Pty) Limited ("De Beers") for the design, engineering, supply, erection and commissioning of a 250 t/h diamond treatment plant to be built onto the MV Dock Express 20 vessel.

The approximately US$27 million contract is part of an overall project to convert the MV Dock Express 20 into a vessel capable of carrying both an undersea mining vehicle as well as the treatment plant.

The contract is due for completion in the first quarter of 2007, following which the re-engineered vessel will be operated by De Beers to establish a viable, sustainable marine mine in the South African Sea Areas (SASA) off the west coast of South Africa.

The contract was awarded under a partnership agreement between Bateman Engineering and De Beers which was introduced towards the end of 2003. It follows a 10-month study period during which various feed scenarios were evaluated and value engineering exercises carried out. The resulting treatment plant consists of a primary screening and dewatering plant, a comminution mill section followed by a DMS (dense media separation) plant, and finally a diamond recovery plant.