Overview
| Stage | Production |
| Mine Type | Tailings |
| Commodities |
|
| Processing |
|
| Mine Life | 24 years (as of Jan 1, 2020) |
Open pit operations remain dormant as planned. The remaining Diamond Resources are reported as a project for potential underground mining. |
Source:
Anglo American owns 85% of De Beers Group, the world's leading diamond company. The remaining 15% is owned by the Government of the Republic of Botswana (GRB). De Beers Group and its partners produce around one third of the world's rough diamonds, by value.
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.
Summary:
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 kimberlite examined is massive volcaniclastic kimberlite, whilst rare layered volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite is also present.
Spinels are a ubiquitous component of kimberlites and their compositions are frequently used as petrogenetic indicators. The compositions of Letlhakane groundmass spinels will be used to fingerprint kimberlite facies by identifying the presence of several discrete batches of magma with unique evolution trends. The spinels are excellent indicators of these trends and are apparently immune to the affects of hydrothermal and subsequent alteration. Analysis has revealed that the Letlhakane spinel are unusually titanium-rich (TiO2 from 4.93 to 17.91 wt%), which correlates with other titanium-rich textural indicators such as the presence of prograde overgrowths of sphene around atolled-textured spinels and an unusually high proportion of perovskite to spinel of around 10:1, which is the inverse of a typical kimberlite.
Source:
Summary:
The new 3.6 million tonne per annum modular plant will recover existing coarse diamond tailings and
extend the life-of-mine for the Letlhakane Mine.
The design of this stand-alone plant was centred on a modular approach. The main process areas, such as the dense-media separation (DMS), scrubbing and crushing buildings, were designed to be fully constructed from fit-for-purpose modules, thereby accelerating on site construction.
Production:
| Commodity | Units | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|
Diamond
|
carats
| 607,000 | 595,000 | 506,000 | 548,000 |
All production numbers are expressed as mineral.
Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | 2017 | 2015 |
|
Plant annual capacity
| 3.6 Mt | |
|
Total tonnes mined
| | 2,162,664 t |
|
Tonnes processed
| | 2,386,741 t |
Reserves at December 31, 2020:
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, Diamond Reserves BCO 1.15 mm.
| Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained carats |
|
Probable
|
Tailings
|
27.3 Mt
|
Diamond
|
23.1 cpht
|
6.3 M carats
|
|
Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
22.3 Mt
|
Diamond
|
31.7 cpht
|
7.1 M carats
|
|
Indicated
|
Tailings
|
Mt
|
Diamond
|
5413.6 cpht
|
1.2 M carats
|
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
18.7 Mt
|
Diamond
|
27.8 cpht
|
5.2 M carats
|
|
Inferred
|
Tailings
|
55.5 Mt
|
Diamond
|
26.7 cpht
|
14.8 M carats
|
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