Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Tailings |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 2043 |
Open-pit operations at Letlhakane Mine ceased as planned in 2017. The plant for processing of tailings has been completed and is now operational.
The plant is a world-class facility specifically designed and constituted with mining and treatment solutions that ensure optimal economic recovery of diamonds. |
Source:
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.
Contractors
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Summary:
The kimberlite pipes located within these mining licences form part of the Cretaceous-aged (144–65 Ma) Orapa Kimberlite Cluster. These kimberlites were emplaced through the complete sequence of local equivalents of the Karoo Supergroup rocks, which overlie rocks of the early Proterozoic Magondi Mobile Belt. The latter have been thrust over the western edge of the Kaapvaal Craton, based on xenolith studies from Orapa and Letlhakane. The cratonic rocks in this area are comprised of Archaean-aged tonalitic gneiss. The Karoo Stormberg basalt at the top of the Karoo Supergroup is overlain by a thin cover of the Kalahari sands.
The larger kimberlite bodies are typically steep-sided, carrotshaped diatremes, but there are many examples of magmatic kimberlite plugs and small intrusions that terminate at the base of the basalt, or which have been emplaced through the basalt as small dykes. The kimberlite bodies consist of several texturally distinct phases of kimberlite in which the textures vary from volcaniclastic kimberlite, pyroclastic kimberlite to hypabyssal kimberlite. The kimberlites at Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa are all monogenetic (multi-vent) volcanoes.
The Letlhakane mine consists of two kimberlite pipes and is one of a cluster of three kimberlite mines in central Botswana. Core logging and additional petrographic study classifies this deposit as a Group I, opaque-mineral and perovskite-rich altered probable monticellite kimberlite. Most of the kim ........

Summary:
Open-pit operations at Letlhakane Mine ceased as planned in 2017. The plant for processing of tailings, which will extend the life of the operation to 2043, has been completed and is now operational. The plant has a capacity of up to 800,000 carats per annum.
This has ensured seamless continuity at Letlhakane Mine and most importantly, it has meant zero job losses as a result of switching from mining from the pit to running a tailings plant.
Source:

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Source:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Units | 2021 | 2020 | 2017 | 2016 |
Diamond
|
carats
| ......  | ......  | 607,000 | 595,000 |
All production numbers are expressed as mineral.
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2021 | 2020 | 2017 |
Total tonnes mined
| ......  | 3,470,353 t | |
Tonnes processed
| ......  | 2,844,100 t | |
Plant annual capacity
| ......  | | 3.6 Mt |
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Reserves at December 31, 2022:
Reported Diamond Reserves and Resources are based on a Bottom Cut-Off (BCO) which refers to the bottom screen size aperture and for Letlhakane Diamond Resources BCO 1.65 mm (for Kimberlite) and 1.15 mm (for tailings), Diamond Reserves BCO 1.15 mm.
Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained carats |
Probable
|
Tailings
|
26.5 Mt
|
Diamond
|
19.4 cpht
|
5.2 M carats
|
Indicated
|
Tailings
|
Mt
|
Diamond
|
6108.3 cpht
|
0.7 M carats
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
22.3 Mt
|
Diamond
|
31.7 cpht
|
7.1 M carats
|
Inferred
|
Tailings
|
49.4 Mt
|
Diamond
|
26.7 cpht
|
13.2 M carats
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
18.7 Mt
|
Diamond
|
27.8 cpht
|
5.2 M carats
|
Type | Material | Diameter | Length | Description |
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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