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Ellah Muchemwa: ADPA to launch Africa's first diamond mining standard next year
The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which is based in Luanda, Angola, and represents the interests of mainly African diamond producers and those with the potential to produce diamonds, will next year launch the Sustainable Development...
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James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration
London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...
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Debswana to name contractor for further expansion of Jwaneng Mine
Cut 9 was a further expansion of the Jwaneng Mine and would involve the deepening of the pit beyond 650-metres to tap into an ore body that would yield about 48 million carats and support the mine to its end of life in 2034.
Mmegi’s BusinessWeek reports that a number of local and international mining contractors were jostling to win the project, which would be Botswana’s single largest contract for a mine since the Cut 8 project, which was completed recently within time and budget.
The contract of the Cut 8, which seeks to expand the Jwaneng Mine pit at a cost of more than $3 billion, was awarded to Majwe Mining, a joint venture between three major contractors.
The contract had a five-year lifespan from 2011 to 2016 with a further two-year extension to 2018.
However, Mmegi’s BusinessWeek cited unnamed sources as saying that although Majwe was interested in the Cut 9 project, there were no guarantees that Debswana would award the contract to the firm.
Cut 9 was believed to be the last open cast layer available at Jwaneng Mine.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished