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VANCOUVER, Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Rockwell Diamonds Inc. ("Rockwell" or
the "Company") (TSX: RDI; JSE: RDI; OTCBB: RDIAF) announces the
completion of the Tirisano Mine project acquisition. The effective date
of the transaction is September 1, 2011 on a going concern basis,
although the operation has been on a care and maintenance arrangement
for two years.


"We are delighted that this transaction has now been completed as
Tirisano is of strategic importance to Rockwell's long term growth
objectives. The quality and price per carat of the stones recovered at
Tirisano during the commissioning and recovery testing phase are
encouraging as these exceeded what was achieved by the mine's previous
operators,' commented James Campbell, CEO, Rockwell. "We are confident
that the mine will make a meaningful contribution to our objective of
sustainably ramping up Rockwell's production profile. We also
anticipate that over the long term, the mine will enhance the Company's
cash flows and plan to apply these to create the maximum long term
returns for shareholders."


On September 9, 2010 Rockwell Resources RSA (Pty) Limited signed a Sale
of Shares and Claims Agreement with Etruscan Diamonds Bermuda Limited,
Etruscan Diamonds Limited and Etruscan Resources Inc. whereby the
Company agreed to acquire Etruscan's Blue Gum Diamond operation in the
Ventersdorp region of South Africa.


The acquisition was for 100% of the equity in Etruscan Diamonds (Pty)
Limited (an exploration company) and 74% in Blue Gum Diamonds (Pty)
Limited ("the acquired companies"). The balance of the equity in Blue
Gum Diamonds (Pty) Limited is owned by the Company's BEE partner, the
local Mogopa community, in accordance with the South African Mining
Charter. Blue Gum Diamonds Pty Limited owns the Tirisano mining right
and the operation has been on care and maintenance since June 2008.


Final Acceptance and Release documents were signed on October 7, 2011
pursuant to all the conditions precedent being met (including the
mineral property transfer approval and the IDC's commitment to
consolidate the Company's debt finance with deferred payment terms).


A third condition to the transaction has been the commitment of the
local Mogopa community to its continued partnership with the Company
through its support and involvement. This is a key business requirement
in order to resume and build a sustainable mining operation at
Tirisano.


The purchase consideration of ZAR33.5 million ($4.65 million) is funded
by:



Internal funding - care and maintenance advances / net debt and working
capital movements amounting to ZAR14.5 million ($2.01 million); and


Equity funding - the issue of 2.6 million Rockwell Diamonds Inc (RDI)
ordinary shares to settle the balance of ZAR19.0 million ($2.64
million). The effective share price was established in September 2010,
determining the number of shares to be issued.



The Company has established a mining fleet, processing plant and final
recovery capacity on site over the past eighteen months in order to
progress to commercial production. The mine has a current production
capacity of 90 000 m3 per month. Plant modifications were completed in-house, using
unutilized existing plant and machinery which was redeployed from
Rockwell's Wouterspan and other Northern Cape mines. In particular, the
Company addressed the issues with the front end and recovery which were
revealed during the plant review in June 2011. The fully containerized
Holpan recovery plant has been relocated to Tirisano and a barrel
screen from Wouterspan has been installed which doubled the front end
capacity as an interim solution. This two-stream production volume
plant is expected to benefit the Company by smoothing its production
profile and production ramp-up has started.


During the next six months, the focus at Tirisano will be on optimising
the mining and plant efficiencies including the development of long
term solutions for the front end. Work will also continue on the
concept designs to increase the plant's capacity.


Rockwell continues to mine as per its medium term plan and will continue
to work with SRK Consulting Africa to develop the geotechnical
parameters that are being used by open pit mining consultancy, Tacmin
Madini to finalise the optimised mine design and extraction plan.







About Rockwell Diamonds:




Rockwell is engaged in the business of operating and developing alluvial
diamond deposits, with a goal to become a mid-tier diamond mining
company. The Company has three existing operations, which it is
progressively optimizing, two development projects and a pipeline of
earlier stage properties with future development potential. Rockwell
has completed the acquisition of the Tirisano property with effect from
September 1, 2011.




Rockwell also evaluates merger and acquisition opportunities which have
the potential to expand its mineral resources and production profile
and would provide accretive value to the Company.




No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information
contained in this news release.


Forward Looking Statements


Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains
certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized
by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe",
"anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that
certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although the
Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not
guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.


Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in forward-looking statements include uncertainties and costs related
to exploration and development activities, such as those related to
determining whether mineral resources exist on a property;
uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing of
production and cash and total costs of production; uncertainties
related to the ability to obtain necessary licenses, permits,
electricity, surface rights and title for development projects;
operating and technical difficulties in connection with mining
development activities; uncertainties related to the accuracy of our
mineral resource estimates and our estimates of future production and
future cash and total costs of production. In particular there can be
no assurance that refinancing funds will be available to Rockwell on
acceptable terms or any terms at all.
For further information on Rockwell, Investors should review Rockwell's
annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission http://www.sedar.com/">www.sedar.com.




SOURCE Rockwell Diamonds Inc.