Firestone Diamonds plc and Tango Mining Limited have both separately announced that the conditional sale agreement for the disposal of Firestone's Botswana operations to Tango has been called off as the latter had not been able to meet the conditions of the conditional sale agreement by 9 September 2016 the last ‘revised drop dead date’ of the agreement.

Tango had sought to acquire the BK11 Diamond Mine in Botswana which had currently been placed under care and maintenance by Firestone. It said that it did not close the US$10 million Loan Financing announced on 29 August 2016 or the US$30 million loan commitment with Vanderbilt Commercial Lending, Inc., as announced on 24 March 2016 on or before the Revised Drop Dead Date. Hence all conditions for the acquisition of BK11, namely consideration of US$8.0 million and repayment of the care and maintenance fees to a maximum of US$40,000 per month, could not be satisfied.

Tango further said that it will continue to look for growth opportunities via the acquisition of diamond and metal mining development and exploration projects in Africa, specifically in Botswana and Angola, and in diamond trading opportunities. It said its core operating business at this time remains focused on thermal coal.

Firestone announed that it is currently focussed on the completion and commissioning of its Liqhobong Diamond Mine in Lesotho with initial production expected to commence in early Q4 2016. It added that the management remains committed to seeking ways of advancing/unlocking the shareholder value from its Botswana assets, which the Company continues to believe has value.