AK06

The deposit - AK06 - is situated approximately 15km South West of Letlhakane.  De Beers’ joint venture partners in Boteti Exploration Company are African Diamonds Plc and Wati Ventures.  De Beers holds 66.22% of the shares in the company,  while African Diamonds Plc holds 28.8%, and Wati Ventures holds 5.4%.

When AK06 was discovered in 1969, it was not thought to be economic due to the limited physical size and grade of the resource.  

Its potential was not realised until 2003/2004, when new exploration technologies revised the estimated size of the pipe, and further sampling indicated higher grades than originally thought.

An initial conceptual study (CSI) was commissioned in Q4 2005 to determine whether or not there was a business case for AK06.  

A number of iterations were completed with the third, known as conceptual study III (CSIII), adopting a low cost, but realistic approach, generating a positive business case for depletion of the deposit.

In September 2007, Boteti Exploration submitted an application for a mining license to the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, to mine the AK06 deposit which was discovered by De Beers Prospecting Botswana. 

In July 2008, the Boteti board passed a resolution at a Boteti board meeting to apply for a retention licence for the AK6 project as, in the short-term, the project economics and sustainability are impacted by the ongoing southern African energy issue

While De Beers would like to see AK6 come into production as soon as possible, the substantial 30% reduction in supply of power by Eskom to Botswana over the next three to four years, has resulted in the reduction in power available to Botswana’s consumers, which includes mining projects like AK6. 

The critical phases of the development of the AK6 mine are in 2009 and 2010, when power is expected to be most restricted.  Current projections show that the shortfall in power supply is not expected to be resolved before the middle of 2012, at the earliest

Developing a mine while knowing that there is not enough power available would contravene our responsibility to build a sustainable mine, ultimately impacting shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.

Read the full press release >