Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed Minergy Limited, a coal mining and trading company, has been granted a mining licence by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security. This marks a significant milestone for the company, which listed on the BSE in April 2017, and is seeking a listing on the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) Alternative Investment Market (AIM) during 2019. The award is later than the projected timeline of mid-2018 for the granting of the licence as announced when the company listed. However, this is a substantial step forward in terms of Minergy’s intention of focusing on delivering high-quality…
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Debswana Diamond Company this week welcomed guests from near and far, comprising Anglo American and De Beers for the annual Metallurgical Conference, 2018 edition. Held in Kasane from 29thJuly to 2nd August 2018, the conference saw leading metallurgy specialists converge to facilitate shared insights, dialogue, and planning towards an even stronger metallurgical discipline. The theme for the 2018 Conference is Chemical Reaction and Physical Attraction which delivers future mineral processing plants. The keynote speaker at the conference, Charles Siwawa, CEO of Botswana Chamber of Mines, stated that “Innovation and step-change requires bold aspirations and bold action. As they say, ‘Be bold and…
Rio Tinto has completed the sale of its remaining coal assets in Queensland, Australia, for $3.95 billion. The transactions include the sale of Rio Tinto’s interests in the Hail Creek coal mine and Valeria coal development project to Glencore for $1.7 billion, and its interest in the Kestrel underground coal mine to a consortium comprising private equity manager EMR Capital and PT Adaro Energy Tbk for $2.25 billion. Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said, “The sale of our remaining Australian coal assets delivers exceptional value to our shareholders. Once again, I would like to thank the many people across…
De Beers’ parent company Anglo American said its rough diamond production increased by three percent to 9.0 million carats reflecting production increases to meet stronger demand as well as the contribution from the ramp-up at Gahcho Kué. The group’s Botswana (Debswana) production increased by six percent to 6.3 million carats in response to stronger trading conditions. Jwaneng production increased by four percent to 3.0 million carats due to an increase in tonnes mined and treated. Similarly at Orapa2 production increased by eight per cent to 3.3 million carats due to the ramp up of additional processing capacity in response to stronger trading…
De Beers Group said its Canadian mining business, De Beers Canada, has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding securities of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (TSX: PGD) (“Peregrine”), owner of the high quality Chidliak diamond resource located in Canada’s Nunavut Territory, at a purchase price of C$0.24 per share, for a total cash consideration of approximately C$107 million. The Chidliak resource was discovered in 2008 and is located approximately 120 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit on Baffin Island. A total of 74 kimberlite pipes have been identified at Chidliak, including the CH-6 and CH-7 pipes, which are the current…
De Beers Group has begun to transport 200 elephants across 1,500km from its Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve (VLNR) in South Africa to Mozambique. The operation, one of the largest elephant translocations ever recorded in South Africa, is part of a major conservation initiative to protect the welfare of wildlife in South Africa and help restore Mozambique’s elephant population. For the first phase of the project, approximately 60 elephants will be transported in July and August from the VLNR to Zinave National Park in central Mozambique. The remaining elephants will be moved to conservation areas that hold sufficient elephant carrying capacity…
Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has provided an update on its Sunland Minerals exploration projects in Botswana. Sunland Minerals is a JV with Alrosa and BOD is the operator. The company said mineral sampling over the 8 previously discovered and announced high contrast geophysical anomalies in the Gope Region of the Kalahari Desert is completed. A total of 267 kimberlitic indicator minerals (KIMs) were discovered. All 8 anomalies had KIMs. The KIMs included 41 garnets, 13 chromites, 139 ilmenites, 4 chrome diopsides and 70 olivines. An analysis of the grains by Remote Exploration Services of Cape Town concluded that the sources were likely to…
The International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR), part of De Beers Group, is pleased to announce that its ground-breaking synthetic diamond screening device, SYNTHdetect, has been shortlisted as a finalist for Industry Innovation of the Year in this year’s JNA Awards. SYNTHdetect, launched last year, is the first synthetic diamond screening device to simultaneously test multiple stones in set jewellery and has the industry’s lowest referral rate at around 0.05%. The device thereby significantly increases efficiency and reduces costs for retailers and manufacturers when it comes to ensuring they do not buy any undisclosed synthetic diamonds. Jonathan Kendall,…
How would you describe the economic environment we are seeing right now? Economic activity is still subdued in 2018. Inflation for the month of May 2018 came in at 3.3%, stubbornly routed near the bottom end of the Bank of Botswana’s objective range of 3% – 6%. The Bank also maintained its accommodative monetary policy stance, leaving its benchmark rate unchanged at 5.0% at its June 2018 meeting. In reaching its decision, the Bank stated its expectations of close but below full capacity growth and subdued domestic demand pressures. What this means, put simply, is that they expect…
Aligning with Botswana’s commitment to provide energy users access to affordable energy services and improve its grid efficiency, GE Power’s Grid Solution business has announced that it has signed its first contract with Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) on May 24, 2018. The contract includes the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a SCADA/Energy Management system at the principal grid control centers in Botswana Power Corporation’s (BPC) headquarters in Gaborone and the back-up control center in Francistown. At the contract signing ceremony, Dr. Stefan Schwarzfischer, Chief Executive Officer for Botswana Power Corporation said, “The functionalities of this platform will improve…