The Williamson mine is located in Mwadui, in the Shinyanga Province of northern Tanzania.
The mine is owned by Williamson Diamonds Limited (WDL).
Until late 2008 the mine was managed by De Beers, which had a 75% stake in WDL.
On 8th September 2008 De Beers entered into a contract to sell its entire 75% equity shareholding and all of its claims over WDL to Petra Diamonds Limited.
The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania retained its 25% stake in WDL.
Williamson is an open-pit mine and operations are focused on a kimberlite pipe. The pipe, measuring 146 hectares at surface, is the largest such deposit ever to be mined.
It was discovered in 1940 by Dr John Williamson, a Canadian geologist, after several years of exploration. The deposit has been mined continuously ever since and more than 20 million carats have been recovered to date.
Mining, drilling, blasting, loading and hauling at Mwadui is carried out by Caspian Limited, a Tanzanian contractor. Ore processing and diamond recovery takes place at two plants on site.
Production Highlights for 2007
- 3.2 million tons of ore were treated at the operation during 2007
- This resulted in the recovery of 220,209 carats (comparing favourably to the 189,396 carats recovered in 2006)
Find out more about Williamson Diamonds >
Read the September 2008 press release >