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Russian diamond technology offers huge plus – Botswana Diamonds

12th June 2013

By: Martin Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

  

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GABORONE (miningweekly.com) – Russian diamond exploration technology offers a huge plus and its use in Botswana could lead to the discovery of large new mines, says Botswana Diamonds executive chairperson John Teeling.

The head of the London Aim- and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed exploration junior, who addressed the Botswana Resource Sector Conference, tells Mining Weekly Online that the technology has enabled the Russian diamond company Alrosa to discover 17 hard-rock diamond mines in Siberia, which equals the number of diamond mines in the world.

He does not know how the technology works and they will not even let him see the technology.

It is all done in Saint Petersburg.

But Teeling thinks the technology is incredible and he is impressed by the delivery of the Russian company, with which he has a technical cooperation agreement.

Alrosa, which produces 28% of the world’s diamonds, apparently uses computer techniques on a databank that is able to recognise diamondiferous kimberlites.

The technology has already pinpointed an area of 4 km2 within Botswana Diamond’s own 200 km2 licence area in the Orapa region.

“Now we don’t have to do geophysics and geochem over the whole area, we just go to 4 km2. So its very quick and easy and much cheaper to identify drilling targets.

“The really important thing is that they can say these could be diamondiferous kimberlites. Now, nobody ever makes that claim. They say, yes, we think we can identify kimberlites, but not diamondiferous kimberlites,” says Teeling, who expects the technology to significantly reduce exploration risk.

Alrosa has found 13 targets for the company in an area it considered to be under-explored.

“De Beers did really wonderful work in Botswana, and I’m the first to say so because I’m a beneficiary of it. But there’s no downside to allowing Alrosa to make its contribution, because there are other views,” he says.

Teeling was involved with the discovery and development of Karowe, which has a capacity to produce one-million carats a year, including high-value type-two diamonds and blues.

For the last 18 months, Botswana Diamonds has been conducting an advanced desktop evaluation of a large Opapa area.

It has had a team working with Botswana’s Geological Survey to gather every piece of data for dispatch to Saint Petersburg.

Alrosa has been working in Angola and Botswana Diamonds is hoping to announce a 50:50 joint venture with the company in Botswana’s north-east.

“We gave them some early-stage data from just north of Orapa and they came back with two targets that bore a remarkable similarity to an area worked on by other companies.

“In other words, they are not reinventing the wheel. They’re putting a few more spokes in it. They believe that they can see clearly under 100 m of sand and basalt,” Teeling recounts.

He recalls that Karowe’s capital expenditure was lowered from $280-million to $110-million through the use of an autogenous mill, a Russian innovation.

Although many gave it no chance of working, Teeling says it is working beautifully.

“You find diamonds in Botswana, you don’t find them anywhere else, effectively, so this is the area we focus on,” he says, adding that he is disappointed with the view of Minerals Minister Onkokame Mokaila, that diamonds will be depleted and that the country needs to prioritise diversification into other minerals like coal.

To him, there are more diamond mines to be found.

Botswana Diamonds, which listed on the Aim in 2007, is a small company, capitalised with some £4-million.

It has 550 shareholders in Botswana and Teeling himself has nearly 10% of the shares of the company.

“The fundamentals of diamonds look better than possibly any other industry at the moment.

“You need to have the right ground and there’s no better place to find diamonds than Botswana,” says Teeling.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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