The Karowe Mine is based on the AK6 kimberlite pipe, which is part of the Orapa Kimberlite Field (“OKF”) in Botswana. The bedrock of the region is covered by a thin veneer of wind-blown Kalahari sand and exposure is very poor. Rocks close to surface are often extensively calcretised and silcretised due to prolonged exposure on a late Tertiary erosion surface (the African Surface) which approximates to the present day land surface.

The OKF includes at least 83 kimberlite bodies, varying in size from insignificant dykes to the 110 ha AK1 kimberlite which is Debswana’s Orapa Mine. All kimberlite intrusions are of post-Karoo age. Of the 83 known kimberlite bodies, five (AK1, BK9, DK1, DK2 and AK6 which is the Karowe Mine) have been or are currently being mined, and a further four (BK1, BK11, BK12 and BK15) are recognized as potentially economic deposits.

The country rock at the Karowe Mine is sub-outcropping flood basalt of the Stormberg Lava Group (approximately 130 m thick on the Karowe property) which is underlain by a condensed sequence of Upper Carboniferous to Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup (approximately 245 m thick on the Karowe property). The Karoo sequence overlies granitic basement.

AK6 is a roughly north-south elongate kimberlite body with a near surface expression of ~3.3 ha and a maximum area of approximately 7 ha at ~120 m below surface. The body comprises three geologically distinct, coalescing pipes that taper ........

The Karowe Mine is an existing open pit mine located in Central Botswana that has been in production since 2012 and has extracted approximately 20 Mt of ore to date. Conventional open pit drill and blast mining with diesel excavators and trucks provide an average annual 2.6 Mt of kimberlite feed to the mill, plus additional ore to surface stockpiles.

The open pit mine operation is expected to terminate in 2026 at an elevation of approximately 700 masl.

There are substantial resources remaining below the economic extents of the open pit that may be extracted by underground mining methods. Each of the North, Centre and South Lobes were sub cropping, have variable but overall high angle contacts with the country rock and vary in diameter and depth. The South Lobe is the largest of the three and its indicated resources extend to approximately 950 metres below surface (from 1,010 masl to 66 masl). The North and Centre Lobes extend below the planned open pit limit but have been excluded from the Underground Project. The geologic features of the South Lobe drive several mine plan design decisions which focus on accessing the deeper, higher-value resource early in the underground mine life.

All open pit mining operations are performed by mine contractors working year-round on two 12-hour shifts. The on-site mining contractor is currently performing load and haul operations with a Caterpillar 6015 Hydraulic Shovel and Caterpillar 777E/G Haul Truck p ........

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