Damtshaa Diamond Mine

 diamond mine, kimberlite pipe

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Damtshaa is located 20km east of the Orapa kimberlite pipe in Botswana. The word Damtshaa means “water for a tortoise”. Commissioned in 2002, the mine recorded its first headfeed load on 28 October of that year. Full production was reached in March 2003.

On 25 October 2003, the then vice-president of Botswana, Lt. General Ian Khama Seretse Khama, officially opened Damtshaa.

As it is a small operation, Damtshaa is managed from the Orapa mine.

Carats per year:
Damtshaa has been forecast to yield approximately 5 million carats of diamonds over its projected 31-year life, at a rate of up to 0.161Mcts per annum.

In 2009, 54 000 carats were recovered from 60 000 tonnes treated. (2008: 533 000 carats recovered from 2.883 million tonnes treated).

Mine type - geology and process:
Damtshaa is an open pit mine. There are four pipes at Damtshaa:

The 5.5ha B/K1, which was actually the first kimberlite to be discovered in the Orapa/Letlhakane province, partly comprises tuffisitic kimberlite breccia (TKB).

B/K9 has a sub-outcrop area of 11.4ha, includes hypabyssal kimberlite and TKB, and contributes 88% of the new mine's output.

The B/K12 pipe, 800m northwest of B/K9, has a sub-outcrop area of 3.2ha, and a maximum diameter of just over 200m with sedimentary crater facies infill to at least 90m depth.

The B/K15 kimberlite can generally be described as a diatreme-facies TKB.

The concentrate from Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa goes to the multi-storey Completely Automated Recovery Plant (CARP) at Orapa.

Health, Safety and Envionment:
Damtshaa has been incorporated into the Orapa and Letlhakane mines’ safety and environmental programmes, and is ISO14001 certified. LTIFR at October 2007: 0.23.

Planning for closure:
An initial closure plan has been developed. This covers the scope of work that will be required to effect the physical closure of the mine infrastructure. Financial provision is being made to fund the closure work.

Reference for information:
www.debeersgroup.com/en/Exploration-and-mining/Mining-o...