Shareholders of Botswana Diamonds have every reason to smile as its team has once again painted a bullish picture following news that samples taken at license PL 117 have shown that there is likelihood of discovery of another kimberlite.
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed exploration company said it has concluded the initial fieldwork on time and budgetÔÇöthe samples which were tested by Alrosa, its partner in the exploration project.
“The results show scope for discovery of new kimberlite pipes, particularly in the north of the block. Two drill targets have already been identified and we anticipate that further drill targets will be identified as the second batch of mineralogical samples is fully analyzed over the coming months. A specific drilling programme will then target areas of highest potential,” BOD said in its latest update to shareholders.
The company said in addition Alrosa believes that its analysis of geophysical data and the diamond indicator minerals has highlighted potential on ground in the region of PL117; ground which Botswana Diamonds has applied for and expects to be awarded. Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers see recent developments at Karowe as exciting to BOD shareholders and remain confident that John Teeling’s team could discover another mine that can produce exceptional diamonds.
“Lucara’s announcement provides an interesting read across to AIM listed Botswana Diamonds plc (BOD), which is exploring the PL117 license, which lies just 10km from the Karowe mine,” the firm said in a note.
Lucara by then had announced that its first tender of the year which consisted of 20 diamonds from Karowe mine, totaling 1,191 carats, fetched total gross revenues of US$50.5m (about P440 million) at US$42,347 per carat. The highest value diamond stone (167.1 carats) was sold for US$12.7m.
“Moreover it is important to highlight again that the management team behind BOD made the AK6 (Karowe) kimberlite discovery, when the ground was held by African Diamonds in partnership with De Beers,” Dowgate said at the time.
BOD said work programme is now being prepared for the new ground and Teeling praised the move to bring Alrosa to Botswana. “As we hoped, we have now got drill targets identified on PL117. There may well be more to come. We shall await the conclusion of the Alrosa analysis on the second batch of samples, and then we will launch our drill programme. We are also becoming increasingly bullish on some areas apart from PL117, ? Teeling said.
“Alrosa is bringing something new to the table, and that is exactly what we hoped for. New thinking and new techniques suggest that there are undiscovered diamond-bearing kimberlites on or near our acreage,” he added.
Alrosa is applying its own exploration technology that has been used successfully in Russia to locate diamondiferous kimberlites beneath the Siberian tundra overburden, but has not been exploited in Africa, and Botswana in particular, where the challenge is to look below the deep sand cover of the Kalahari.
“Investors will be looking to see if history can repeat itself at PL117 and potentially at other ground held in Botswana, in BOD’s JV with Russian diamond mining group Alrosa,” added Dowgate.
