Russian technology to boost Orapa diamond search
Boitshepo Majube | Tuesday November 26, 2013 15:42
Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling has said Alrosa believes that its exploration techniques can predict the location of diamondifereous kimberlites up to 100 metres below a cover of Kalahari sand and basalt.
'The first test of this will be in the first and second quarter of next year when the joint venture will explore the located area close to the new Karowe mine, which is producing spectacular diamonds,' he explained.
Teeling said few people outside the mining industry, understand the difficulty of 'seeing' into the ground. 'Most new discoveries are made from surface indicators or by exploring where there is or was a mine.
But, once the surface is explored you have to go deeper,' he explained. He said that despite the best efforts of the world's leading mining companies, the only lie detector is a drill hole. He said the top target identified by Alrosa was in an area covered by a small 2.9km2 licence held by local interests. 'We farmed into this licence,' he said.
He added that this is a ground they know well having held it earlier under the African Diamonds name.
He said in their exploration activities, Alrosa is focused on the Orapa region and they have done an analysis of the Gope area in the CKGR. 'This is in the Kalahari Game Reserve so environmental considerations are paramount. The area is highly prospective,' he said. He stated that South African and local interests had obtained a substantial block of 13 licences covering much of the area.
Gem Diamonds is currently developing the Ghaghoo mine in the region, while Petra Diamonds made a discovery on block KX36 east of the area.
Teeling said that at the moment, Botswana Diamonds' exploration ambitions were limited by its finances.
'The retail market for fresh equity in Aim-listed explorers is virtually non-existent. Falling share prices not only dilute existing shareholders when funds are raised but make funding more difficult, as investors believe that by waiting, prices will be lower and, often, they are right. We are hoping to place shares with long-term investors and our directors will take shares instead of financial compensation,' he pointed out.
Alrosa is the largest diamond producer in the world by volume. It accounts for 25% in the global diamond production in terms of value. In 2012, its diamond production amounted to 34.5 million carats and rough diamond sales totalled $4.5 billion.
The aim has been to utilise Alrosa's technological expertise to identify high potential targets from Botswana Diamond's extensive database.
The partnership has dramatically increased the amount of early-stage exploration work that Botswana Diamonds is able to undertake and has resulted in an initial 13 target areas with 12 licence applications submitted.
Further targets are being generated leading to more applications being submitted. One of the target areas is the highly prospective PL117 licence, which holds AK10, a kimberlite discovered by Botswana Diamonds's predecessor, African Diamonds.