28 May 2019

Jwaneng mine acting general manager Mr Nicholas Ematang has called on future geologists to utilise technology to come up with innovative ways of diamond exploration.

He made this call at the start of the two-day Jwaneng Diamond Exploration conference held under the theme: Another 50 Years of Exploration Lies in the Youth, in Jwaneng on Monday.

The conference, whose inaugural installment was held in Orapa in 2017, seeks to provide an opportunity for undergraduate students from the University of Botswana (UB) and the Botswana University of Science and Technology (BIUST) to learn about diamond exploration and evaluation.

Mr Ematang noted that as Debswana would be celebrating 50 years of diamond mining next month, the youth were expected to be at the forefront of technology and innovation that could take diamond mining to even greater heights.

He urged the students to correlate theory and practice to move the mining industry forward.

“I therefore, urge you to utilise the knowledge from this conference to enhance your skills towards more discoveries,” he said.

For his part, Debswana project manager Mr Mike Brook noted that diamond exploration in Botswana in the past was a cumbersome exercise due to lack of modern technologies compared to the ones currently under use.

He said even though exploration in Botswana started in the 50s, the first kimberlite deposits were only discovered in Orapa in 1967.

He said since the first discovery, Botswana’s diamonds for developments story unfolded to make it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

“Botswana is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and there have been significant developments since the discovery of diamonds,” he said.

He said with Orapa being the largest diamond mine by production and Jwaneng being the biggest by value, Botswana diamonds continued to be the biggest contributors of developments such as infrastructure.
Debswana senior project geologist Ms Kgalalelo Molefi underscored the need for capacity building, especially in the youth, as a way of enhancing human resource development.

“Debswana strives to be a driver of a knowledge-based economy through human resource development and therefore there is a need for capacity building in tertiary institutions.

This is one way of investing in youth through knowledge sharing platforms, stakeholder engagement as well as building partnerships,” she explained.

She noted that exploration had played an important role in developing Botswana, and therefore called on young people to come up with innovative ways to continue where others left off.

She said through the conference, they were intending to provide a networking forum skills synergy by bringing together various experts as well as exposing future geologists to exploration technologies. ENDS