Modern Mining June 2018

DIAMONDS

Group 1 kimberlites in the province in an area which hosts the famous Jagersfontein and Koffiefontein mines and which is also close to the Kimberley mine in the Northern Cape. “The project area, which now covers around 36 000 ha of ground, was identified using a range of techniques, including satel- lite imagery and the examination of historical

exploration techniques to see whether past explorers missed anything and whether it has economic potential.” It is, of course, possible for even operators of the calibre of De Beers to get things wrong, a classic case being the AK6 kimberlite in Botswana, now the Karowe mine, famous for its production of outsized gemstones, including a plus 1 100-carat diamond which is the sec- ond biggest ever to have been recovered from a diamond mining operation. De Beers evalu- ated AK6 in the early 1970s but dismissed it as being uneconomic. African Diamonds in con- junction with De Beers re-evaluated it in the period between 2004 and 2007, determining that it could in fact be economically developed. De Beers, however, once again relinquished its interest, selling out its stake to Lucara in 2008. Lucara in 2010 also bought out African Diamonds’ interest and went on to build the mine, which was opened in 2012. Campbell, of course, was the MD of African Diamonds while John Teeling, currently BOD’s Executive Chairman, was Chairman of the company. The two men have been re-united in BOD, which started life in 2011 as the inheritor of the exploration assets of African Diamonds. These were all in Botswana, which explains the name adopted for the company. BOD is dual listed in Botswana and London and currently has a market cap of £5,6 million. Apart from Limpopo Province, BOD is also active in the Free State. In October last year, it announced the ‘re-discovery’ of eight

A drill site in the Maibwe JV project area in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. Percussion drilling at the Thorny River project in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.

June 2018  MODERN MINING  23