GHAGHOO MINE TO OPEN TOMORROW Diamonds from the Ghaghoo mine inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) are expected to hit the market in December although the target is early 2015. Ghaghoo Diamond Mine is the first and only underground diamond mine in Botswana and President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama is to officially open the mine on Friday (September 5). The mines general manager, Mr Kavis Kario said in an interview that all processes were running smoothly to ensure that the first produce would be ready by the festive season. “Diamonds are a very sentimental product so we want to have our stock ready when the market is ripe and ready to buy,” he said, from his base in the CKGR, 350 kilometres from Gaborone. The key aspect about diamond trading, Mr Kario said, is to maintain rarity in the market so as to appetize would be buyers. With information already available to geologists, the Ghaghoo Diamond mine is projected to last at least 30 years. Right now the mine is on a transition from a project to a fully blown production plant and has in the process increased personnel from the initial 11 employees to around 120 to date. “By end of 2014 we would have surpassed 200 while our outsourced catering services will also automatically increase their staff as a result of capacity demands,” Mr Kario noted. Because the mine is situated deep in the desert with no network connections, management cadre spends at most nine days on site followed by five day offs while artisans rotate on a 14 by seven cycle. Ghaghoo Diamond Mine is solely owned by Gem Diamonds who bought the rights to the Gope Retention License from diamond mining giant De Beers back in 2006. They immediately started groundwork with an Environmental Impact Assessment which was approved two years later. Tough luck befell Gem Diamonds as global financial recession hit the markets forcing the company to hold the project in abeyance. The project was reignited in 2010 with a mining license awarded the following year. In a previous interview, Gem Diamonds Chief Executive Officer, Mr Haile Mphusu revealed that the concession had two diamond pipes being GO 125 and GO 136. At the initial stages of excavating back in 2012 they were still focusing on the GO 125 whose size was about 11 hectares. “Data on the pipe up to the first 500 metres below surface shows that it contains 20 million carats and we want to produce 100 000 carats per year,” he said. The idea behind the phased approach was such that they would increase production over the years until they reach 3.4 million tonnes a year. Gem Diamonds has registered a foundation that will partner with the community for the development of the nation. At the onset they drilled four boreholes to supply each of the four settlements inside the CKGR, although Mothomelo and Molapo boreholes were either too salty or failed to meet water consumption standards. The General Manager, Mr Kario also noted that they are partnering full force with schools in the peripheries of the CKGR to improve results and provide better conditions for students. “So far we have adopted Kaudwane primary school and we have already started work in that regard. There is also a smart plan to transform learning at New Xade primary school which we will pioneer,” he said. (BOPA)
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 06:09:18 +0000
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