World's Biggest Diamond Mine in Botswana Envisages 1 Billion-Ton Earth Lift

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Approval to extend the life of Botswana's Jwaneng mine, the world's richest diamond mine, is still pending a board decision from the diamond mining giant Debswana (Gaborone, Botswana). Approval would extend the pit with Cut 9, and entail removing a massive 1 billion tons of earth, increasing the pit depth to 850 meters.

Currently, the mine is engaged in Cut 8 with a $3 billion investment, which will move 680 million tons of earth and see the mine go to a depth of 650 meters below ground level from 350 meters.

Cut 8 is pushing back the edge of the pit to allow safe mining at deeper levels from the three kimberlite pipes. Cut 9 will entail moving waste rock matter, a result of Cut 5, which is now nearer the actual mine pit on account of expansion over the year. There is only limited land space available for more waste, and the mine management is lobbying the government to free more land from the nature reserve, which the miner created adjacent to the mine.

In the development of Cut 8, about the same amount of rock will be moved between 2010 and 2016, as has been extracted in the past 25 years. A study has begun on whether to open up further with a Cut 10 or to sink a shaft and tart underground for the mining of diamonds. In October, De Beers (Luxembourg/Johannesburg) started a $20 billion project to build an underground mine at its Venetia opencast mine in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo province. The final decision on Cut 9 is expected in the middle of 2014.

Mining from Cut 7 at Jwaneng will start in mid-2014, and mining from Cut 8 in 2017. It will add an additional 11 years to the mine's life.

By the end of October, Jwaneng had exceeded its production target of 7.76 million carats with a total of 8.8 million carats. The mine produces an average of about 10 million carats annually, and is targeting 12 million carats annually over the next five years. It peaked in 2006 with 16 million carats and was officially opened in 1982.

Jwaneng is one of the world's five super pits and is owned by Debswana, which is jointly owned by De Beers and the government of Botswana. Anglo American (LSE:AAL.L) (London, England) owns 85% of De Beers, and the Botswana government owns 15%.

For related information, see February 19, 2013, article - De Beers Launches $2 Billion Venetia Underground Diamond Mine.

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