First quarter diamond exports near P6bn

Bank of Botswana figures released yesterday indicate that exports attributable to the country's two producers of rough diamonds, Debswana and Lucara Diamonds, ranged from P2.6 billion in January to P1.5 billion in March.Operations at the country's other diamond mines, Firestone's BK11 and Mantle's Lerala, are currently suspended due mainly to operational and market-related issues.

Available figures indicate that Lucara Diamonds' Karowe Diamond Mine sold 144,712 carats in the first quarter of the year, earning US$32.5 million (P266.5 million). By comparison, Debswana, which owns the world's richest mines, produced 4.54 million carats over the same period.