JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds announced on Monday that it intended to apply for a secondary listing on the BSE.

The secondary listing application would be made shortly, and listing was anticipated to take place in the second quarter of the year.

Firestone Diamonds CEO Phillip Kenny said that the company had made a substantial investment in its Botswana operations, which were now the primary focus for the company.

The diamond-mining and exploration company had appointed Capital Securities of Botswana as its sponsoring broker for the proposed listing.

With most of Firestone's current operations now focused on Botswana and production due to start at the company's BK11 kimberlite in the second quarter of 2010, the company had been granted local asset status by the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority of Botswana.

Kenny said that the ability of Botswana-based institutional investors to invest in BSE-listed companies was significantly improved by the granting of the local asset status.

"With BK11 due to commence production shortly, and more than 100 kimberlites in our licence areas in the Orapa, Jwaneng and Tsabong regions, we believe that we have a successful future ahead of us in Botswana and look forward to growing our shareholder base in Botswana," he concluded.

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