Ghaghoo Mine officially gets off the ground
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday September 8, 2014 11:14
Owned by Gem Diamonds, which also has operations in Lesotho, the mine is the country’s sixth operating and only the second outside the Debswana stable. Kimberley Diamonds’ Lerala Mine in Tswapong is set to reopen having closed in 2009 at the height of the global recession while Firestone has put its mothballed BK11 mine up for sale.
Ghaghoo is the country’s first underground diamond mine built at a cost of US$95 million (P836 million).
Officially opening Ghaghoo, Khama noted that development of the Mine had taken more than 30 years, following the initial discoveries made by previous explorers.
“This is another milestone in our quest to transform our country into a mining powerhouse and a world diamond centre,” he said.
“This mine will increase the supply of diamonds available for trading in Botswana over and above those from Debswana, De Beers and Boteti Mining’s Karowe Mine.”
“I’m optimistic that this will advance our transformation of becoming a destination of choice for access to rough and polished diamonds as well as finished diamond products.”
Khama did not spare the international organisations that have led a crusade against mining in the CKGR, saying government placed citizens’ interests paramount.
Government and organisations such as Survival International have clashed through the years over the balance between indigenous land rights and development within the game reserve.
“It would be remiss of me If I did not mention that this mine has been a subject of various controversies, driven by deliberate disinformation by some elements bent on tarnishing our country’s image just because they differ with our approach to development.
“I want to reiterate that our government has and always will put it’s people and the preservation of the environment first in whatever development initiatives we undertake and Ghaghoo Mine is not an exception,” he said.
Gem Diamonds’ CEO, Clifford Elphick said besides extensive community consultation, an underground approach had been chosen to minimise the environmental impact as opposed to open cast mining.
“The entire operations takes up just 20 square kilometres out of the CKGR’s total 52,000 square kilometre area,” he said.
“We were able to reduce our footprint dramatically.”
Gem Diamonds expects to produce between 250,000 to 300,000 carats annually from next year. An auction of Ghaghoo stones is due before the end of the year in Antwerp.
The group’s marketing agreement with government requires it to commence Botswana sales within 24 months, having tested it’s products internationally.
Friday’s launch was of the first phase of the Mine with work underway for further expansion on the identified resource. Exploration is also ongoing within the lease area.