Firestone Diamonds, De Beers Agree on Botswana JV
June 28, 04
De Beers said today (Monday) it has agreed on a joint venture with Firestone Diamonds to explore and develop a new diamond mine in Botswana. Under the terms of the agreement, De Beers will finance and carry out exploration and evaluation work.
Mopipi work by De Beers, Firestone
De Beers will initially hold a 51 percent stake with Firestone holding the rest.
Upon completion of the first bankable feasibility study, De Beers’ interest in the project will rise to 61 percent.
The exploration centers around Firestone’s Mopipi project, about 450 kilometers north of Gaborone which is next to De Beers’ Orapa and Letlhakane diamond mines which produce 13 million carats of diamonds per year, worth approximately $800 million.
Firestone has carried out substantial exploration work at Mopipi and said the results strongly suggest a good potential for the presence of a new kimberlite source in the Mopipi area, and that the kimberlite source is likely to be diamondiferous.
"The first phase of work will comprise of the integration of data from exploration carried out by Firestone with De Beers' extensive geological database from more than 30 years of exploration and mining in the Mopipi and Orapa areas," the companies said in a statement.
Debswana, a company formed as a partnership between De Beers and the Botswana government, controls Botswana’s diamond industry.