02 Jun 2019

As Debswana gears towards celebrating 50 years of successful diamond mining next month, with the first kimberlite discovered in Orapa in 1967, there is need for reflection on the last half century and explore other innovative techniques that may extend the lifespan of the existing diamond mines and explore other potential areas.

With the two-day Jwaneng Diamond Exploration conference under the theme: Another 50 Years of Exploration lies in the Youth on May 27-28, Debswana, and other exploration partners brought together experts as well as undergraduate students from the University of Botswana (UB) and Botswana University of Science and Technology (BIUST) with the aim to expose the students to various aspects of diamond exploration and evaluation.

“Exploration has played a very critical role in developing Botswana, hence it now lies with the youth to continue with more innovative ways. As Debswana, we aim to be a driver of a knowledge-based economy through human resource development, hence we have undertaken to achieve this through capacity building in tertiary institutions, invest in youth through knowledge sharing platforms as well as through stakeholder engagement and building partnerships,” said Debswana’s senior project geologist, Ms Kgalalelo Molefi.

She further said creating an interaction platform was not only expected to provide a networking environment but also enhance skills synergy through engagement of various experts in the field.

Such an opportunity, she said would go a long way in imparting exploration knowledge and skills to the undergraduate students who are future geologists.

For a retired geologist like Mr Manfred Marx, the skills sharing conference takes him back to the 1960s when he led a team of other geologists prospecting for kimberlite with manual tools as compared to the current advanced technology.

“In my days before computers, GPS navigation, Google earth maps and aerial geophysical techniques, an uncomfortable and challenging bush life was taken for granted.

I have observed over time that the demands for ever greater field comforts and reliance on digital technology is now part of modern exploration,” he said.

He admits the journey was not easy, nevertheless after many years of a fruitless search they discovered Orapa mine in April 1967.

The mine is currently the largest diamond mine by production with Jwaneng mine being the richest in the world by value, hence the latter termed the ‘Prince of Mines’.

He vividly remembers their first discovery, which has helped transform Botswana’s economy to one of the fastest growing in the world.

“Early in the morning on Friday the 21 April 1967, my team of 12 Batswana explorers and I stepped onto an unusual low concrete hill littered with kimberlitic indicator minerals. This was not entirely unexpected, as some months earlier Dr Gavin Lamont and Jim Gibson had detected such minerals during a road sampling survey into this isolated region. However, what was unexpected was the enormous size of this kimberlite pipe that was destined to become the world class Orapa diamond mine,” he reminisced.

He said despite the discovery of other diamond mines in years that followed, there was still need for more exploration. He called for the use of both old and new techniques conjunctively to explore more areas.

His call was shared by Jwaneng mine’s senior engineer Mr Nicholas Ematang, who urged students to utilize the modern technologies to take the mining industry to greater heights. ENDS