Botswana Diamonds has been awarded a five-year prospecting licence on the ground containing the Reivilo cluster of kimberlites in the Barkley West area of South Africa.
The area is located about 110 kilometres northeast of the actively producing Finsch diamond mine owned by Petra Diamonds.
“We are very pleased with this award. When the ground became recently available, we immediately applied for the area,” said company chairperson John Teeling.
“Botswana Diamonds management has long been aware of the diamond potential of this ground, and so we are delighted to have finally been awarded this high-profile exploration ground and look forward to updating shareholders in the near future on developments.”
It said exploration by the previous licence-holder was reported to have delineated a cluster of three kimberlite pipes, with sizes of 3.1 hectares, 1.7 hectares and 0.9 hectares all within a 250-metre radius.
Samples of the drilling core produced G10 and eclogitic garnets which are the optimal indicators for diamondiferous kimberlites.
Botswana Diamonds said it plans to review all the available data on Reivilo before finalising its exploration programme.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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