Botswana firm keen to explore for diamonds in Zim

Botswana Diamonds (BOD) says Zimbabwe is highly prospective and there are positive signs that the country is gradually opening for business and will soon emerge as a location for overseas investment.

The company revealed it is still preparing to re-enter the country to focus on both short-term production targets at Marange Diamond fields despite the collapse of a proposed partnership with Vast Resources plc some years back.

“Our final area of interest is Zimbabwe, a country which we believe is now emerging as a location where overseas companies can invest. Zimbabwe has some interesting diamond geology and has seen little exploration in recent decades,” said John Teeling, chairman of BOD.

The principals in BOD believe that they can deliver meaningful returns to investors as they have done so in their earlier vehicle, African Diamonds, which discovered, with their partners De Beers, what is now Lucara Diamond Karowe Mine in Botswana.

BOD was founded in 2010 as a spin-off company of African Diamonds that has been operating in Botswana since the early 1980s, with its head office based in Dublin, Ireland.

The mining company operates in Botswana, South Africa and Cameroon and has a successful track record in diamond discovery.

BOD also found a kimberlite mine in Botswana which is one of only 20 hard-rock diamond mines found outside Russia. The company operates in a joint venture with Alrosa from Russia to explore 17 diamond-producing mines.

Teeling noted; “The BOD directors and employees are very experienced in diamonds in Africa, mining and exploration. We are using this experience to acquire exploration assets in areas of good diamond potential, Botswana, South Africa, and possibly, Zimbabwe.”

Approval is awaited for the granting to Vast of permitting to progress the various projects in Zimbabwe, in particular the Marange project.

BOD has long had a connection with Zimbabwe. Teeling said, the Marange diamonds field was prolific, but recent years have been very difficult politically and economically.

“Diamond exploration has all but ceased. There have been recent signs of a limited revival. We would like to be part of the revival,” the chairman said.

BOD had an agreement with Vast Resources to assist them in relation to a possible licence in the Marange area. They had a 5 percent carried interest up to a certain expenditure.

Teeling added that; “Zimbabwe has excellent potential to be a significant diamond producer. BOD has maintained contacts in the country. We had a joint venture with Vast which ultimately came to nothing. We are now actively involved in discussions on a possible entry. Whether this happens or not will depend on the ground offered and on the joint venture terms.”

BOD said it continues to liaise with the authorities in Zimbabwe on entering the diamond sector as there are significant geological opportunities in the country. Their objective is to find a formula which suits all parties.

Such talk comes as the diamond miner recently secured a five-year prospecting licence on the ground containing the Reivilo cluster of kimberlites in Barkley West, South Africa.

The kimberlite cluster is located around 110km north-east of a Finsch diamond mine owned by Petra Diamonds. According to an exploration by the previous licence holder, the area holds a delineated a cluster of three kimberlite pipes, all within a 250m radius and the prospecting licence is effective until June 2027.

In 2022, Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando, said diamond production for 2021 was almost 4m carats, up from 1,7 million carats in 2017 and 2 million carats in 2018.

There was a time when Zimbabwe’s diamond sector had grown to levels where authorities claim the country was supplying 25 percent of the world’s rough diamonds.

There were many companies mining diamonds in Zimbabwe, but the number has been whittled to four – ZCDC, Anjin, Murowa and Russian-owned Alrosa – that have been licensed to mine.-ebusinesswekly