Botswana Diamonds and Vast Resources have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to allow greater mining exploration in the country. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the companies have agreed to exchange information derived from past exploration on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe; and to form a special purpose vehicle, to be jointly owned by each company, for the purpose of developing and exploiting diamond resources in Zimbabwe. Any diamond exploration programmes in Zimbabwe will be carried out in accordance with Zimbabwe’s joint ownership laws in relation to diamonds.
Botswana Diamonds Chairman, John Teeling, says of the agreement, “Zimbabwe is a country with excellent diamond potential. Both Botswana Diamonds and Vast Resources have extensive experience in and knowledge of the country. It is opening for business and both BOD and Vast are keen to make the most of this opportunity. I look forward to providing our shareholders with further updates in due course.”
Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive of Vast Resources agrees, stating that, “”As a result of the new government’s desire to open up business in Zimbabwe we believe the time has now come for us to make use of our historic diamond knowledge with a view to bringing value for all stakeholders in developing Zimbabwe’s diamond resources. We are delighted to be working with Botswana Diamonds in order to achieve this.”
Botswana is known for its strong mining industry
The country, which is one of the leading producers of diamonds, is home to the Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane, and Damtshaa mines. Jwaneng Mine is the richest diamond mine in the world by value. In addition to diamonds, the country also mines nickel, copper, coal and iron ore.
In 2008, Vast acquired a database relating to diamonds in Zimbabwe and carried out its own exploration in the field using information from the database until 2010. Botswana Diamonds has independently acquired a Zimbabwe diamond database and, along with its significant networks, has expertise in diamond exploration, development and mining. In particular, it has access to technology relating to extracting diamonds from hard rock.
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