The Botswana government has suspended the issuance of Environmental Research, Filming and Photography Permits effective from 15th July 2015 up to 15th October 2015. According to the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT), the decision will allow government to review the existing guidelines. “The purpose of this suspension is to allow the Ministry to review the current process and existing guidelines and also align the process to the current Ministry priorities,” the ministry stated. “However, this decision does not affect the current running permits and all applications received before the above date.” The ministry further clarified that the Environmental…
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Lilja Pesanka Hastie, from the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, who picked up the highest accolade of ‘The Forevermark Promise Award’ was the overall winner at the 18th Shining Light Awards in a spectacular grand finale held in the Circa Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa recently. Lilja now has the offer of a year’s training scholarship with De Beers Group’s Forevermark design team in Milan, Italy. Louise Kriek and Madeli Viljoen, also from the Tshwane University of Technology, received ‘The Cursor Sursum Award’ as runners-up. They will be offered three-month training scholarships in Milan. Julius Brettschneider, from Adrian &…
African Energy says it has executed a binding term sheet with an experienced South African project developer for the sale of its 100% owned Mmamantswe coal and power project. According to the company, the developer will form a bid consortium which will sole fund the preparation and submission of a bid into South Africa’s coal fired base load IPP procurement programme using Mmamantswe project. Equally, African Energy will be paid an initial sum of $10 million if the project bid is shortlisted by the South Africa’s Department of Energy. “On receipt of the initial $10m, African Energy will transfer ownership…
Rio Tinto says it is preparing its first shipments of metal from its Kitimat aluminium smelter in Canada following an extensive modernisation of the facility. According to the company, the modernisation of the aluminium smelter will increase production capacity by 48% and result in Kitimat becoming one of the lowest cost smelters in the world. Rio Tinto is now focused on safely ramping up towards its annual production rate of 420,000 tonnes. The modernised smelter, which was delivered in line with the revised schedule and budget, is powered exclusively by Rio Tinto’s wholly owned hydro power facility and uses the…
The importation of electricity decreased in the first half of the year while the physical volume of electricity generation went up in the same period according to Statistics Botswana. The government statistics organisation said on its new report titled Electricity Generation and Distribution in the first quarter of 2015 that in the first quarter, the volume of imported electricity amounted to 451,092 MWH, when compared to 616,206 MWH recorded during the first quarter of 2014. This shows that the importation of electricity declined by 26.8 percent between the first quarter of 2015 and the same quarter of 2014. “Comparison of…
Australian miner, Kimberley Diamonds Ltd says it has received the first AUD$5 million under the terms of a loan agreement entered into with a third party lender, Zhejiang Huitong Auction Co Ltd. Under the terms of the Loan Agreement, Zhejiang has agreed to provide KDL with a total loan of AUD$10 million, with KDL to receive a further AUD$5 million by 31 July 2015. The funds will be applied to the re-commissioning of KDL’s Lerala Diamond Mine in Botswana. The Lerala Diamond Mine is KDL’s primary focus, and once re-opened, will be KDL’s key source of revenue. According to the…
The future of the mining industry in South Africa is digital, says Dr Bekir Genc of the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, adding that information technologies will help the sector achieve its goals of better working conditions and improved mine economics. Genc was speaking at the opening session of the Mining into the Future conference in Boksburg. The conference is a collaborative partnership between Caterpillar, Barloworld Equipment (as the Cat southern African dealer), the Wits School of Mining, and the Wits Centre for Mechanised Mining Systems (CMMS). Genc says the digital revolution is happening everywhere,…
“The search for fashion’s next Rising Star is on! And the reward is the opportunity of a lifetime for a young designer seeking to make a mark in the fashion world in Africa and internationally,” says ELLE South Africa publisher Gisèle Wertheim Aymés. If you are Africa’s most talented young fashion designer, ELLE, Mr Price and Africa Fashion International (AFI) will help you kick-start your career! All finalists for the 2015 ELLE Rising Star Design Award in association with MRP will have the opportunity to work in collaboration with MRP to launch their own range. They will also benefit from…
Ethiopian Airlines has commenced flights to Gaborone in a move seen as boosting tourism and supporting Botswana’s fledging diamond beneficiation sector. The first flight from Addis Ababa enroute to Cape Town touched down at the Sir Seretse Khama International airport (SSKIA) at 1355hrs on June 30 with 89 passengers on board including top Ethiopian executive. This is the 51st destination in Africa and Esayas Woldemariam, MD Ethiopian International Service said it will make it easier to connect Botswana with the international community. “It will be easy to travel. Instead of going to other places and seeking transit visas, (with) Ethiopian…
South Africans and Zimbabweans accounted to a large number of travellers coming to Botswana in 2013—a year in which there was a decline in tourists arrival. According to tourism statistics annual report 2013 released by Statistics Botswana, the diamond rich country received a total of 2,598,158 arrivals in 2013, which was a decline of 1.0 percent (14, 397) from the 2012 figure of 2,612,555 arrivals. “Zimbabweans continue to dominate in the number of arrivals, having accounted for 31.8 percent (825,717) of 2,598,158,” the belated data showed. “This is followed by South Africans with 742,639 (28.6 percent) while Zambians represented 12.8…