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Botswana
Orapa Operation (Damtshaa Mine, Letlhakane Mine)

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 Location:
24 km NW from Letlhakane, Botswana

  Address:
Private Bag 001
Orapa
Botswana
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+ 267-297-0243
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  • Overview
  • Owners
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  • Mining
  • Processing
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  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Dense media separation
  • X-Ray sorting
Mine Life12 years (as of Jan 1, 2019)
Orapa Operation includes Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines.
Orapa Mine is the biggest open cast mine in the world.


Owners & OPERATOR

Source:
CompanyInterestOwnership
Anglo American plc. 42.5 % Indirect
Government of the Republic of Botswana (GRB) 57.5 % Indirect
Debswana Diamond Company (Pty) Ltd (operator) 100 % Direct
Anglo American owns 85% of De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company. The remaining 15% of De Beers is owned by the Government of the Republic of Botswana (GRB).

Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50% of the company.

Deposit Type

  • Kimberlite
  • Tailings


Summary:

All of the subject Properties lie within the Orapa kimberlite cluster on the southwestern edge of the Zimbabwe Craton of Southern Africa with a stable, cool cratonic setting favourable for the intrusion of diamondiferous kimberlite and associated alluvial deposits. The Orapa cluster, comprising approximately 60 known pipes and dykes is located in north-eastern Botswana, east of the Kalahari sub-basin. During the late-Cretaceous epoch (~93 Ma), the Orapa kimberlites were erupted through deformed Archaean basement overlain by volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup. The pipes are located near to the contact between the Archaean Limpopo belt and Zimbabwe craton which forms the suture zone with the Kaapvaal craton. The Limpopo belt (3500 – 2500 Ma) consists of complex metamorphic terrains composed of gneissic, granitic and metasedimentary rocks.

The Orapa kimberlites are characterized by being high up in the volcanic crater area and having had to break through the extensive Karoo-aged basaltic lava flows to reach the surface. The kimberlites are often small in surface area but swell out below the basalts to be much larger than their surface expression suggests. The kimberlites often contain large quantities of fragmented basalt in their upper parts.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

First discovered in 1966, the Orapa Regime (cluster) consists of Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines, which are open-pit operations using traditional truck and shovel methods, and clustered in a radius of under 25km in the Central District of Botswana.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Dense media separation
  • X-Ray sorting

Source: Subscription required

Summary:

The tonnes mined from A/K1 pit feed two processing plants, Orapa 1 and Orapa 2. The concept of diamond processing, entails stages of comminution to progressively reduce the particle size of the ore, and screen it into a feed size envelope desirable for the concentration process. A major outcome of the comminution process is diamond liberation; a process whereby the locked-up stones are released from the host rocks. Once the diamonds are liberated, they can now be separated from the gangue material into a concentrate by the Dense Medium Separation process.

Liberation is the fundamental activity of any diamond processing operation. The state of liberation in a plant, while not measurable, is diagnosed by the level of grind (fracture) completed by the plant at any given sub-stage of comminution. The total grind conducted by the plant is achieved by a combination of comminution equipment and recycle such that all material is reduced to below a desired size.

The combin ........


Production:

CommodityUnits201920182017201620152014
Diamond k carats  ......  Subscription required12,23610,1857,9319,87712,074
All production numbers are expressed as mineral.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics2015
Total tonnes mined 25,598,986 t
Tonnes processed 10,202,102 t

Reserves at December 31, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained carats
Proven & Probable 131.7 Mt Diamond 1.265 carats/t 166.6 M carats
Measured & Indicated 70.4 Mt Diamond 0.821 carats/t 57.8 M carats
Inferred 72.7 Mt Diamond 0.857 carats/t 62.3 M carats


Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 1, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 1, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 1, 2021
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2018
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2015

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
Annual Report 2018
Annual Report 2018
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2018
Annual Report 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Annual Report 2016
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2016
Annual Report 2015
Annual Report 2015
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2015
Other 2013
Corporate Presentation 2012
Press Release 2012
Other 2011
Other 2011
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Aerial view:

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