Modern Mining July 2016

COUNTRY FOCUS BOTSWANA

feature being responsible for less than 0,5 % of total global diamond production. Of the seven stones that Karowe produced last year that exceeded 300 carats, two – one of 1 111 carats and the other of 813 carats – were particularly notable as they were respectively the second and sixth largest gem quality dia- monds ever mined. The larger of the two stones, which has since been named Lesedi la Rona (‘Our Light’), is still in Lucara’s possession – it failed to meet the reserve price at a recent auction in London – but the smaller was sold earlier this year for US$63 million, the highest price ever achieved for a rough diamond. Amazingly, these two large diamonds were recovered on successive days in November last year – along with a giant 374-carat stone which, at any other time, would have been highly newsworthy in its own right. All three, incidentally, are rare Type IIa diamonds and were mined from the prolific south lobe of Karowe’s AK6 kimberlite, the kimberlite on which the mine is based. AK6 comprises three Incredible Karowe’s flood Panoramic view of the open pit at Karowe. The mine – which was commisssioned in 2012 – is located in the Orapa Kimberlite Field near the town of Letlhakane. Speaking at the recent Botswana Resource Sector Confer- ence in Botswana, Lucara’s Gaborone-based Chief Operat- ing Officer, Paul Day, said the company’s Karowe diamond mine in the Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) – which it operates through its Botswana subsidiary, Boteti Mining – was the world’s pre-eminent producer of large diamonds. “We’ve almost lost count of the number of big stones the mine’s produced,” he told delegates. In 2015 alone, the mine recov- ered over 700 stones greater than 10,8 carats – with 47 of them larger than 100 carats, 20 larger than 200 carats and seven larger than 300 carats. N o other diamond mine in the world can boast this type of production profile and indeed Lucara CEO William Lamb is on record as saying that Karowe now accounts for about 60 % of the world’s 100-carat-plus diamond production – despite

40  MODERN MINING  July 2016