JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Botswana government has granted Atlas Minerals, a subsidiary of Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds, a new licence – PL 085.
The licence area, which would be explored as part of Botswana Diamonds’ 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Russian diamond company Alrosa, covered 316 km2 and was located north-west of PL 207, where the JV was already conducting exploration.
Work carried out and currently in progress by the JV team on PL 207 had found heavy concentrations of Kimberlitic indicator minerals (KIMs), particularly pyropes (red garnet gemstones), in the north-west of the block.
Botswana Diamonds believed the kimberlites associated with the pyropes could possibly also be found at PL 085.
“We feel that there is a very good chance that unknown kimberlites exist in the area covered by our existing block PL 207 and the new block PL 085.
“Ongoing extensive and detailed work on the ground, field analyses and laboratory analyses will estimate how far and from where certain KIMs, specifically garnets, have travelled. The JV is now zeroing in on targets,” commented Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling.