In its heydays, De Beers, which is responsible for discovering 40% of all the planet’s known diamond-bearing rocks in history, was exploring in 20 countries, spending $100 million annually. However, in recent years, it trimmed its search down to countries where it already had mining operations, including Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, and Canada.
Ahead of the general elections, De Beers’ statements about exploration in Angola were viewed by some social media commentators as a form of a snub of Botswana in preference for the formerly war-torn country where diamond exploration has long been stymied by conflict.
Speaking in Antwerp, Belgium last week at the FACETS diamond conference, De Beers CEO, Al Cook, sought to clear the air.
“My belief is that the best place to explore for diamonds is near where you have discovered diamonds before and there’s no country on Earth that has discovered special resources of diamonds more than Botswana," he said.
Cook added that as part of the terms of the new sales agreement being finalised with government, the exploration in Botswana would be conducted as a partnership.
“As part of the new agreements with Botswana, we have opened up for the government and De Beers together to explore for diamonds in Botswana,” he said.
According to the agreement in principle signed by the two parties last June, government and De Beers will jointly explore diamonds across the world. Government has reportedly already established wholly owned private sector companies for that purpose.
Tier 1 diamond discoveries such as Jwaneng and Orapa, are extremely rare and new major finds of any size have not been made in the last 20 years. De Beers previously explored Angola in the 1970s finding signs of “rich deposits” but a bloody civil war, attacks on operating mines and the Dos Santos family's control of mining, kept the diamond giant out of the exploration fields.
De Beers has since returned to the country and in 2021 signed two 35-year contracts with the Angolan government, covering exploration to mineral production.
Late in October, the diamond giant said that it had identified eight high-potential targets in Angola’s diamond fields, an announcement some local commentators misinterpreted as a swing away from Botswana due to former president Mokgweetsi Masisi’s hardline stance in negotiations with De Beers.
Cook clarified that De Beers had paused its exploration only in Canada where it was now focused on production. In Botswana, he said, the company is confident of working with President Duma Boko’s government on uncovering new mines.
“As we see President Boko set out his plans for the development of the nation, we need to recognise that as a miner, it is a real privilege to explore a country with both a history of stability and a future focus on sustainability and ethics. “I’m very excited about the exploration that we are doing even if we know that exploration is the art of finding a needle in a haystack,” he told the FACETS conference.
According to information accessed by BusinessWeek via government’s mining cadastre, De Beers has 11 active exploration licences in Botswana spanning over 8,000 square kilometres mainly in the central regions of the country. The licences all expire in December 2025.
