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Botswana
Letlhakane Mine (Orapa Operation)

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 Location:
15 km SE from Letlhakane, Botswana

  Address:

Private Bag 001
Orapa
Botswana
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Fax+ 267-297-0243
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
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  • Processing
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  • Reserves
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeTailings
Commodities
  • Diamond
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start...
Mine Life2043
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.


Owners

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.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Kimberlite
  • Tailings


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 ........


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


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.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

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Summary:

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Production:

CommodityUnits2021202020172016
Diamond carats  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required607,000595,000
All production numbers are expressed as mineral.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202120202017
Total tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required3,470,353 t
Tonnes processed  ......  Subscription required2,844,100 t
Plant annual capacity  ......  Subscription required3.6 Mt
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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.

CategoryOreTypeTonnage CommodityGradeContained 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


Pipelines
TypeMaterialDiameterLengthDescription


Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 11, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 11, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 11, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 11, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 11, 2023
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

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

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Integrated Report 2022
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
Annual Report 2018
Annual Report 2018
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2018
Annual Report 2017
Press Release 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Annual Report 2016
Corporate Presentation 2016
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2016
Annual Report 2015
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2015
Other 2013
Corporate Presentation 2012
Press Release 2005
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