BG reporter

Firestone Diamonds office at Gaborone’s Commerce Park is full of many boxes marked ‘BK 11’, ‘BK 6’ and ‘Tsabong MK 1’ as well as many other samples the company has done in its various explorations in the country.
From the first office, one quickly discovers that the company is trying to find leads into the kimberlites areas they have access to in Botswana. “These are samples that we have collected from our fields,” said Polite Khutjwe as he ushered this reporter into his upstairs office. The place is quiet as no one is at work except the man who currently stays in the suburbs of Mmokolodi. The past two years have been a rollercoaster for Khutjwe, who is now the Group Exploration and Minerals Resources manager for Botswana and other Southern African explorations and mining operations.
In 2008, Khutjwe was head hunted by Firestone Diamonds from Debswana to head the company’s exploration in Botswana that would later result in Botswana first diamond mine -BK 11 which has a separate ownership from Debswana. “In 2003, our parent company (Firestone Diamonds plc) found that there is potential for some kimberlites in the country. They did not waste time as within years they applied and were granted exploration licences to start their search for diamonds,” said the man who has worked for Debswana Company for the past 16 years mainly in the company exploration department.
Exploration for Botswana’s most precious stone have been done since the 1970s mostly by De Beers Prospecting Company. “When we established here, we were certain that diamond leads would be found,” said the excited Khutjwe as he looked at his laptop for reference. For the better part of the interview, Khutjwe could not stop talking about Firestone Diamond’s new mine.
The company has finally been granted a mining license by the local department of mines. “The license basically means we can now start mining diamonds for commercial purposes,” said the excited Khutjwe. Mining by any means is capital intensive and Khutjwe said they would spend over P350 million once the BK 11 mine is fully implemented. He told Botswana Guardian that they have already started to do all the required work before starting commission in matter of weeks. Botswana, although a diamond-based economy, is regarded as lacking skills and knowledge on diamond mining. Firestone Diamonds boss is aware of that. “We have already inducted some Form 5 leavers with basic skills during some of our explorations and we hope they will continued to be part of us,” he said.
He said the most critical people in a mining setup are diesel mechanics, artisans and technicians. “We have recruited some locally, while others are being sourced from abroad,” he revealed. Currently, all diamonds mined in Botswana (by Debswana) are taken to the Diamond Trading Centre (DTC), Botswana-owned by Botswana and De Beers - and later sold to the 16 contracted sight holders.
Once they start commercial production at BK 11, all their produce would be sold through open tender. Under this arrangement all registered diamond dealers would be invited. “Our diamonds would be sold to the highest bidder,” he said.  Kutjwe said although he is not saying that they would prefer local companies, the fact that the diamonds would be sold locally is a good initiative especially if this (selling through tender) happens at a time when government has called for more concerted efforts in diamond aggregation. Khutjwe said the current diamond aggregation would be crucial for Botswana’s diamond industry. BK 11 is expected to produce one million carats of diamonds over its ten-year life. The company has created Monak Venture, which would be responsible for mining the BK 11. Monak is owned by Firestone (90%) and 10% by a local investor.
The AIM listed company has 21 other kimberlites in the Orapa area, of which 13 have proven to be diamondiferous.
The company is currently busy with its other operation in Tsabong. “Tsabong is a very important area for us with 86 kimberlites discovered so far,” he said. He however explained that exploring for kimberlites in that area is expensive since the majority of the land is covered in sand dunes, which can be as high as 20 metres. “We have already spent millions that side,” he said. He said they hope to get into joint ventures with local companies in the Tsabong exploits to encourage significant participation by indigenous companies in the diamond industry. As part of ploughing back into communities in which they operate, Khutjwe said they had a deliberate policy not to build staff houses. In this way their employees are forced to rent houses in the area. The company, he said, was also contributing meaningfully to the employment sector.
Debswana has selected the company as their preferred bidder for Tailings Project in Jwaneng that would enable the former to extract more diamonds from its ores. Some few months ago, the company approached Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) seeking a secondary listing. He said if they are lucky and their proposal is approved more Batswana would be able to have ownership in the company.
Khutjwe was however concerned with the repeated incidences of power outages, which obviously affects their bottom line. “We cannot have a situation where crucial resource like water and electricity become scarce. Relevant authorities must try by all means to address these issues,” he advised.
He said they are happy to be operating in Botswana because of its conducive business environment. Khutjwe said Botswana has one of the lowest tax regimes in the region, which enables Canadian and Australian companies to set up here. The company already has rehabilitation and closure plan to use once the mine ceases operation. Khutjwe has a Bsc. in Applied Geology from University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.