Newly appointed Debswana deputy managing director and outgoing Jwaneng general manager Balisi Bonyongo said the diamond miner will likely embark on Cut 9 expansion project following the successful completion of the Cut 8 project this year.
The Cut 8 project was meant to extend the life of Jwaneng mine to 2024 and gain access to an additional 100 million carats.
Botswana Gazette quoted Bonyongo as saying Debswana was already doing feasibility studies on mining another side of the mine pit.
He said if their estimates were accurate, Cut 9 would extend the mine’s lifespan from Cut 8’s 2024 to 2032.
Bonyongo said although the softening of global diamond market was a cause for great concern, Debswana was undeterred and forging ahead with plans to start producing diamond from the Cut 8 project in 2016.
“We are currently removing dirt so as to be ready for the 2016 deadline (for the beginning of mining on the eastern side of the mine pit),” he said.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
