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RAPAPORT... Botswana Diamonds completed its initial fieldwork at the prospecting license PL 117/2011 in the Orapa region of Botswana and which it shares with joint venture partner ALROSA. The license is a small, 2.9-square-kilometer area of ground that was identified as a priority target under the partnership agreement. A team of senior geologists and geophysicists from both companies embarked on a rapid and intensive work program designed to identify drill targets on the license. Tasks completed on the ground included magnetic, electromagnetic and geochemical surveys. The geochemical samples are now being shipped to ALROSA's laboratory in St. Petersburg, Russia for mineralogical analysis. Simultaneously the interpretation and modeling of the geophysical fieldwork is ongoing. Botswana Diamonds previously drilled PL 177/2011 in collaboration with De Beers between 2004 and 2007, whereby the diamondiferous kimberlite pipe, AK10, was discovered. Now Botswana Diamonds and ALROSA are reevaluating the potential of this ground and possibly drill successfully to augment the existing resource. John Teeling, the chairman of Botswana Diamonds, said, “We identified license PL 117 as a key target. We have done the initial ground work with our Russian partners; the samples are on their way to Russia and applying ALROSA’s in-house analytical capabilities we shall hopefully locate the new drill targets, which we shall drill in short order. “I am delighted with this first collaboration on the ground with our joint venture partner; the two teams worked successfully together. The combination of their technological skills and our local diamond knowledge is a big asset to both parties and I look forward to announcing soon that we are preparing to drill on PL 117,'' Teeling said.
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