Lucara Diamond is upbeat about its plans to start production at its AK 6 mine in the next two months. It is aimed at making Botswana the world’s undisputable diamond producing country by value, a top official told a resource conference this week.
“We will be producing around 400, 000 carats from next year,” Anthony George said, adding that his Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) listed company will be promoted to the main board this month to prime it for the major developments.
The company is currently focused on Botswana and Lesotho operations and is building up to support the Botswana government’s initiative of promoting a parallel diamond marketing plan from De Beers’ controlled Diamond Trading Centre (DTC).
The mine will be 15 kilometres south-west of the Letlhakane Village and brings the total number of operating mines in that area to five.
Debswana owns three while Firestone owns BK 11b that started operation last year.
The mine will employ about 400 people and over its 12 year life-span will yield about 6.1 million carats ÔÇô of type II quality, which is similar to that of Letlhakane mine.
Lucara Diamond bought the AK 6 projectÔÇönear Orapa — from the former African Diamonds which has been baptized and re-named Botswana Diamonds.
“AK 6 will come on stream in October/ November this year and will reach full capacity by early next year,” executive chairman of Botswana Diamonds, John Teeling, said early this year.
AK 6 was sold to Lucara Diamonds in December but the newly formed Botswana Diamonds has 30 percent stake. The AK6 fell into the hands of the Toronto stock exchange listed Lucara Diamonds in December last year when African Diamonds sold it.
Teeling said that the development of AK 6 came at the right time when diamond prices are at their peak. Botswana government has seen record breaking sales since the beginning of the year, totaling close to P 12 billion.
“Diamond prices are now higher than ever in history and the demand is coming from Asia,” he said.
AK 6 is some 15 kilometers south-west of Letlhakane village ÔÇô in an area which Teeling has dubbed the best diamonds address in the worldÔÇöand will bring the number of mines in the area to five. Debswana owns three mines while Firestone Diamonds and Lucara will be one each.
The exploration exercise at AK 6 was carried out by De Beers following the joint venture. Through the use of its new technology, they found out that the kimberliteÔÇöthe volcanic rock deposit containing diamonds ÔÇô was much larger than originally thought.
It also contained the rare nitrogen free gemstone deposits found in 45- carat Hope diamond in the Smithsonian in New York and Cullinan diamonds which are part of the Crown Jewels.
The rare nitrogen free gemstone deposits are concentrated at the southern loop of the earmarked mine and, according to geologists, is expected to yield some larger stone which are presently in short supply due to the aging mines.
AK6 has been praised by the diamond community as one of the “exciting projects” at a time the world is faced with the dwindling supply of gemstones as old mines are aging leading demand and supply gap.
He said China and India are the future drivers of the diamonds market as young women in those countries would be looking at having diamond rings.
“The other thing is that they do have a big middle class population that has got access to disposable cash,” he said.
He said India’s middle class alone is made up of some 400 million people while China stands at 250 million.
