Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds on Tuesday announced that its joint venture (JV) with the large Russian diamond company, Alrosa, had been awarded six new prospecting licences in Botswana.
Four are in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) and two are in the Orapa kimberlite province, and they extend to the end of March 2020.
Those in the CKGR cover 3 135 km2 and those in the Orapa area cover 482 km2, localities selected after a review of historical data.
The CKGR area selected is close to Gem Diamonds’ Gope mine, as well as projects held by the Maibwe JV, in which Botswana Diamonds is a partner.
Unexplained geophysical and kimberlite indicator anomalies in the CKGR’s thinner Kalahari are close to existing pipes, while anomalies in the chosen Orapa area are northeast of Debswana’s Letlhakane diamond mine.
Of the 85 kimberlites in the Orapa area, eight are current diamond mines or have been active diamond mines in the past.
Debswana’s Orapa mine is the world’s largest tier-one diamond mine by area at 118 ha.
Alrosa geologists and mineralogists have arrived in Botswana to begin the 2017 field exploration programme, which will focus on sampling and geophysical studies at prospect licence 260 in the Orapa area and prospect licences 135, 235 and 234 in the Gope area.
Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling said in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online that the awards would allow Botswana Diamonds to work with Alrosa to deploy advanced exploration technology to areas that “haven’t been looked at through this lens before”.
In partnering Botswana Diamonds on several programmes, Alrosa has been using technology that helped it to discover 19 diamond mines in Siberia.
It centres on the use of electrical impulses rather than magnetics and speeds up exploration by bringing mobile mineral-analysis laboratories to site.
Botswana Diamonds last year appointed as its MD former De Beers exploration GM James Campbell, who has more than 30 years' experience of working with exploration, development and production companies, including African Diamonds, where he was key to the discovery and development of the Karowe mine, known for its large diamonds.