De Beers budgets P26m for new Jwaneng search

In its heydays, De Beers had exploration activities in more than 20 countries across the globe, spending US$100 million annually searching for diamonds. In recent years, however, the search has been narrowed down to Botswana, Canada and South Africa. Even though it has trimmed down its exploration, De Beers is still the world’s premier discoverer of diamonds with its exploration accounting for 40% of the 8,000 kimberlites discovered to date on Earth.

At least 15% of these have been found diamondiferous or diamond-bearing and one percent has been economically viable. Within this one percent, a fraction has been classified as Tier 1 or deposits that have produced mines such as Jwaneng and Orapa.