JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds has started an active programme of exploration in Orapa and Gope, in Botswana.
 
The exploration programme was being led by a team from Botswana Diamonds’ joint venture partner Alrosa.

“The exploration programme on two licences in the Orapa area of Botswana has great potential. The new licence PL 260 already has known kimberlites containing diamonds. We want to test the belief that the grade improves at depth so we are taking a bulk sample to get reliable results,” Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling said in a statement on Wednesday.

Geologists had begun sampling on PLs 260 and 210. PL 260 covered an area of 25 km2 between the Karowe and Orapa diamonds mines. It contained three kimberlites AK21, AK22 and AK23 that were known to contain diamonds. 

Alrosa and Botswana Diamonds had evaluated existing data and agreed that significant potential existed on the block. A soil sampling geophysics, diamond drilling and reverse circulation wide diameter drill programme was ongoing and would continue on the block until the end of April. 

The two to three wide-diameter holes had a target depth of 300 m. A 90 t bulk sample would be analysed in a bulk sampling plant in Botswana.
 
A second team was deployed to PL 210 where two holes were drilled in 2015. Targeted geophysics and soil sampling were designed to select drill sites for diamond drilling, which would begin in early April. 

There were extensive kimberlitic indicator minerals on PL 210 and Botswana Diamonds hoped the new drilling programme would identify the source.
 
On the completion of sampling and geophysics on PLs 210 and 260 the teams would move to the Gope region, where follow-up work would be done on PLs 135, 136 and 137, where anomalies were confirmed in 2015.
 
Early-stage fieldwork would also start shortly on the new Gope licences obtained in late 2015.