Debswana Diamond Company Ltd, or simply Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of the company. Debswana operates four diamond mines in central Botswana, as well as a coal mine. The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam. ... Jump to: navigation, search A scattering of round-brilliant cut diamonds shows off the many reflecting facets. ... A joint venture (often abbreviated JV, and sometimes known by the older term joint adventure) is a strategic alliance between two or more parties to undertake economic activity together. ... The De Beers Group is a Johannesburg- and London-based diamond mining and trading corporation. ... There are a limited number of commercially viable diamond mines currently operating in the world. ... Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by deep mining, coal mining (open-pit mining or strip mining). ...

Mines

The mines owned and operated by Debswana are:

• Diamond mines:
  • Orapa diamond mine, opened in 1971
  • Letlhakane diamond mine, opened in 1975
  • Jwaneng diamond mine, opened in 1982
  • Damtshaa diamond mine, opened in 2002
• Coal mine:
  • Morupule Colliery

The Orapa diamond mine is the worlds largest diamond mine. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Letlhakane diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about 190 kilometers (120 miles) west of the city of Francistown. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Jwaneng diamond mine is the richest diamond mine in the world, and is located in south-central Botswana about 170 kilometers (110 miles) west of the city of Gaborone, in the Naledi river valley of the Kalahari. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Damtshaa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about 220 kilometers (140 miles) west of the city of Francistown. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Debswana was formed as the De Beers Botswana Mining Company on June 23, 1969, after De Beers geologists identified diamond-bearing deposits at Orapa in the 1960s. Over the next five years, the government of Botswana increased its ownership stake from an original 15 % to a full 50 %. In 1991 the company changed names to Debswana Diamond Company Ltd and moved its headquarters to Gaborone. June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology. ... Jump to: navigation, search The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gaborone, estimated population 186,000 (2001), is the capital of Botswana. ...

Production

All diamond mining in Botswana is controlled by Debswana; there are no private diamond mining operations in the country. Combined production of the company's four mines totaled 30 million carats (6,000 kg), nearly a quarter of the world's annual production of around 130 million carats (26,000 kg). The high value per weight of diamonds mined by Debswana has made the company the leading producer of diamonds by value in the world. The carat is a unit of mass used for gems, and equals 200 milligrams. ...

Economic impact

Diamond mining activities have fueled much of the growth in Botswana's economy, allowing it to grow from one of the poorest countries in the world when it became independent in 1966 to a "middle income" nation, with $9,200per capita income in 2004. Largely because of this, Botswana is considered by two major investment services to be the safest credit risk in Africa. Diamonds account for fully one third of the nation's GDP, over 90 % of earnings from exports, and 50 % of government revenues. Debswana is the largest non-government employer in Botswana, employing around 6,000 Botswanans, and is also the largest earner of foreign currency. 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their total personal income, divided by the total population. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Credit risk is the risk of loss due to a counterparty defaulting on a contract, or more generally the risk of loss due to some credit event. Traditionally this applied to bonds where debt holders were concerned that the counterparty to whom theyve made a loan might default on... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day...

References

• http://www.debswana.com (Retrieved April 14, 2005)
• CIA World Factbook, Botswana entry (2004)