Cleaver Confident of Fair Deal with Botswana

(IDEX Online) - Bruce Cleaver, co-chairman of the De Beers Group, today said he was confident of reaching a deal with the government of Botswana that was fair to both sides.

He said he couldn't reveal details of ongoing negotiations, but what he could say was that they were "offering a win-win deal which is something we can live with, and they can live with".

Cleaver (pictured), who stepped down last month as De Beers CEO, was addressing the Israel Diamond Conference, in Ramat Gan.

Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to walk away from 54-year-old joint venture agreement, under which three quarters of the country's rough is currently sold by De Beers.

But Cleaver said both he and President Masisi has described it as "probably the most successful private public private partnership there is".

He said matters were complicated by the fact that they were renegotiating both the sales agreement (which expires at the end of June) and the 25-year mining licenses at the same time.