Botswana Diamonds, the BSE listed company, said sampling operation has commenced at its Cameroon project and added that board changes have taken place at its Botswana subsidiaries.
In an update to investors, the company said sampling has commenced at Mobilong and results will be known by the second quarter of the year.
“Sampling operations have commenced on our Mobilong licence in Cameroon.┬á Two 100-150 tonne samples are being gathered from areas of potentially diamond-bearing conglomerate identified in earlier exploration,” the company said.┬á
BOD owns 85 percent of an 8,087 square kilometre diamond exploration licence in the eastern area of Cameroon and exploring for diamonds in parts of the country.
The company also announced the appointment of Kabelo Mohohlo to the board of Kukama Mining and Exploration and Atlas Minerals, the wholly owned Botswana subsidiaries of Botswana Diamonds.
Mohohlo is currently managing director of African Alliance Botswana Securities and he holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of West Virginia and a Masters degree in Business from the University of Reading. 
He is also a director of the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Central Securities Depository Company. 
“Mohohlo will oversee the growing presence of Botswana Diamonds in Botswana,” BOD said.
The company added that Andre Fourie has stepped down as a director although he will continue to consult to the company, adding that an additional director will be appointed in the near future.
BOD also said that a small bulk sample is ongoing on diamond claims in the Masvingo area in Zimbabwe.
┬á“The purpose of the work on the claims, which are 49 percent owned by BOD and 51 percent local Zimbabwean ownership, is to confirm the presence of kimberlites and to determine if they are diamondiferous,” it said.
 In Botswana, Botswana Diamonds said data gathering preparation and analysis continues on the 50/50 joint venture in Botswana with initial results expected in the last half of 2012.
In March, BOD raised close to P20 million through a placement to fund exploration in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
