SHOWCASE MINE OF THE WEEK - JWANENG DIAMOND MINE!!

Jwaneng diamond mine in the Southern African country of Botswana ranks as the eighth biggest diamond mine in the world. The open-pit mine located 160 miles south-west of Gaborone in south central Botswana was estimated to contain diamond reserves of 88.3Mct (70.1Mt grading 1.26ct/t diamond) as of December 2012. Jwaneng is considered to be the world’s richest diamond mine in terms of value, and is owned by Debswana, a partnership between the De Beers and the Government of Botswana. The mine has been in production since 1982. It accounts for up to 70% revenue of Debswana, which operates four diamond mines in Botswana. The mine produced 8.172Mct of diamonds in 2012 and 10.641Mct in 2011. In 2012, the operating depth of the Jwaneng pit was 350m. Currently, the mine is at a depth of around 600m. A major extension project, namely Cut-8, has been underway at Jwaneng since 2010, which will extend the mine’s life to at least 2025 - Mining Technology.