The new De Beers Group CEO, Philippe Mellier, this week visited Botswana on a familiarisation tour of Debswana operations.
He also had briefing sessions with the senior leadership of the company, which is 50/50 owned by government of Botswana and De Beers.
The briefing covered year to date company performance, including safety, production and sales, an update on major projects and the new corporate strategy. On August 2nd, Mellier undertook a visit to Jwaneng Mine where he was given an update on the performance of the richest mine in the world by value.
He also had an opportunity to undertake a mine tour and visit a processing plant. His visit to Jwaneng also included a tour of the Jwaneng Mine hospital, which also serves as a referral hospital for the southern district and a support centre for the Masa National Anti-retroviral programme.
“I am very excited to be here to get a fuller appreciation of the business that contributes significantly to Botswana and the De Beers Family of Companies,” said Mellier as he got down to business with the Debswana Senior Leadership Team.
Later this month, Mellier is expected to visit the Orapa and Letlhakane Mines to further get an appreciation of the entire Debswana business.
Mellier last month told Idexonline that “I’ll visit southern Africa in August, and then spend September and October meeting our Sightholders and customers”.
He added: “The strong results give me the luxury to make these visits. Things are going well for De Beers; it is in a strong position.”
He told the online publication that the new sale agreement with Botswana took longer than planned.
“We signed a confidentiality agreement so we cannot disclose anything at this stage,” he says. “Obviously, the talks are taking long, partially because of personnel issues, but we expect to conclude the agreement in a month or two.”
