17 May 2021

Debswana Jwaneng Mine general manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse, says his organisation believes in diverse views to ascend to greater heights.

Briefing a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Wildlife, Tourism, Natural Resources and Climate Change prior to the mine tour on Wednesday, he said the mine believed in team work, hence partnership with Batswana in doing business.

He said they valued the parliamentary delegation’s input to take the mine to another level, adding that a ‘diamond is a symbol of love, respect and uniqueness’.

Mr Koolatotse said they were aware of the need to sustain the environment.

The soft part of the diamond represented the spirit of Botho that Batswana weree well known for, he said, adding that their input was paramount in their operations.

He said development of a capable, skilled and purpose-driven workforce to meet organisational requirements of current and future operations remained paramount.

Debswana did not compromise governance, taking into consideration that Jwaneng mine over the years had produced diamonds that could not fill-up the swimming pool or worth of diamonds that had transformed the economy, he said.

Debswana’s dream was that transformation and transition through bold technology-led innovation, inspired collaborative and passionate purpose-driven people, a culture of zero harm while optimising derived value, inclusion of people and communities and embracing the concept of future smart mining, said Mr Koolatotse.

He shared that Jwaneng mine had expanded nine times through an open-cast expansion project hence the name cut nine because it was the ninth cut or expansion of the mine that would sustain the lifespan of it up to 2034, hence necessitating the move to ponder on how people were going to live beyond diamonds.

Currently, he said there was an on-going study that would advise on how far the mine would go.

He opined that they were operating some of the biggest machines in the world because they were in the global competition, adding that Batswana had entrusted them with high value items that needed to be preserved. 

He cited as an example a tyre without a rim for a 930 Komatsu dump truck that cost P400 000 each and the truck cost P50 million each.

If Jwaneng mine was to close today, he said, they would need P1.9 billion to rehabilitate the mine site for the land to be used for other purposes such as eco-tourism.

 

He spoke of the importance of removing waste to ensure those taking over the mine in future, would not have the liability of removing waste but rather mine more diamonds. BOPA