New high value diamond mine in the offing
Business
Tsodilo Resources a Toronto Venture Stock Exchange (TVSE) listed exploration company operating in Botswana has hinted positive signals for its Orapa Kimberlite Fields work.
A high grade ore mine, unearthing top high value gem diamonds is in the offing, the company disclosed this week. Tsodilo Resources has been exploring and investigating samples at BK 16 Kimberlite deposits since 2015, and preliminary results show yet another diamond mine for Botswana after Lucara’s Karowe Mine.
Information from Tsodilo reveals that the BK16 Kimberlite project located in the outposts of Boteti sub-district, adjacent to Debswana Orapa mine, is well placed to enter the market and generate millions of dollars for the company once the mine is established. Orapa Mine is Botswana’s flagship diamond mine by volume and one of the world’s prolific rough diamond extraction operations under mining giant De Beers Group.
In a presentation published by the company this week, Tsodilo stated that BK16 was already showing similarities to Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana, as well as Petra Diamonds’ Koffiefontein mine, in South Africa’s Free State; BlueRock Diamonds’ Kareevlei mine, in South Africa’s Northern Cape; and Lucapa Diamond Company’s Mothae mine, in Lesotho. All of which are smaller carats output mine by volume but recovering high grade.BK16 is one of 85 known kimberlites in Botswana.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Tsodilo Resources James Bruchs observed in the presentation that market prices of higher-quality diamonds are increasing on the back of increased demand, while diamond jewellery demand is also rising. Bruchs said BK16 is the most prospective of the kimberlites currently being evaluated in the Orapa kimberlite field.
The project is currently in a sampling and test work phase, with a 15 000 t to 25 000 t bulk sampling programme planned either as a new surface dug sample boxcut or an extension of tunnels away from dilution zones, to get a better indication of the real grades. “Following the test work, we will get to work on a feasibility study that includes full engineering studies and the definition of mining parameters,” he said.
Stephen Coward, a renowned explorations expert who is offering geological consultancy services to Tsodilo says the process of sample acquisition and processing to recover diamonds is complex and could not be considered an assay, as is the case for many types of metallic mineral sampling. “This often results in material differences between the raw and diluted recovered grade from a set of samples and the true in situ grade of the target,” he said.
According to Coward the BK16 deposit has potential to host a coarse size diamond distribution, with the potential to contain high-value diamonds. Tsodilo completed 3 665 m of ore body delineation drilling in 2015, 3 668 m of pilot hole core drilling in 2017 and 3 120 m large diameter drilling to date. On the other side of the prospected site sits Karowe Mine which is well known for recovering over 120 carat white gems. Karowe made history in 2015 by recovering a colourless/white type 2 diamond weighing 1,111 carats , around 222 grams .measuring 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm.
The diamond, approximately of tennis ball size was registered as the third-largest diamond ever found, and the second-largest of gem quality. Only the non-gem black Sergio and the gem-quality Cullinan were larger. A day after the discovery, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carats were found in the mine .Named Lesedi La Rona, the diamond was sold at US$53 million to a London based British multinational jeweler , which is equivalent to approximately over BWP 500 million.
The BK 16 Kimberlite explorations and mining by Tsodilo Resources is also anticipated to unearth historic gems. De Beers which operates Botswana largest diamond mines initially discovered the deposit and defined a grade of 1.4 carats per hundred tonnes in the 1960s. Work on the BK 16 Kimberlite project stopped in 2008 owing to the grade being considered too low. However, Bruchs said it was under-sampled at the time, adding that the global economic crisis in 2008 also crushed the viability of the project as no funds were being availed by investors.
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Grit Services Limited, a member of the pan African real estate group, London Stock Exchange listed Grit Real Estate Income Group is divesting from Letlole La Rona Limited (LLR), a local real estate company established by government investment arm Botswana Development Corporation over a decade ago.
The Board of Directors of Letlole La Rona Limited this week announced in a statement to Unitholders that Grit Services Limited (‘Grit’) has informed them of its intention to exit its investment in the company.
Grit has been a material shareholder in LLR since 2019. On 07 March 2023, Grit sold 6 421 000 linked units, representing 2.29% of the Company’s total securities in issue, at a market value of BWP 22 537 710.
This trade follows previous sales of 6.79% in December 2022, as communicated to Unitholders on 10 January 2023, as well as a further sale of 4.78% (representing 13 347 068 linked units) on 24 February 2023 to various shareholders.
In aggregate, Grit has sold 13.9% shareholding in the Letlole La Rona between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in current shareholding of 11.25% in the Company.
Letlole La Rona said in the statement that the exit process will take place in an orderly manner so as to maintain stability of the Company’s share price.
The statement explained that Grit’s sale of its entire shareholding in LLR is in line with its decision to exit investments where it does not have majority control, or where it has significant exposure to currencies other than US dollar, Euro or hard-currency-pegged revenue streams.
“Grit has announced similar decisions pertaining to certain of its hospitality assets in Mauritius recently. The Company would like to advise Unitholders that it remains focused on long-term value delivery to all stakeholders” LLR said
In July last year as part of their Go-to-Africa strategy Letlole La Rona acquired an initial 30% equity stake in Orbit Africa Logistics, with an option to increase this investment to 50%. OAL is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Mauritius, owning an industrial asset in a prime industrial node in Nairobi, Kenya.
The co-investment was done alongside a wholly owned subsidiary of London listed Grit. The Orbit facility is situated on a prime industrial site on Mombasa Road, the principal route south of Nairobi center, serving the main industrial node, the port of Mombasa and the industrial town of Athi River and is strategically located 11 kilometers south of the international airport and 9.6 kilometers from the Inland Container Depot.
Grit shareholding in Letlole La Rona was seen as strategic for LLR, for the company to leverage on Grit’s already existing continental presence and expand its wings beyond Botswana borders as already delivered by Kenya transaction.
Media reports have however suggested that LLR and Grit have since late last year had fundamental disagreements on how to go about the Go-to-Africa strategy amongst other things, fuelled by alleged Botswana government interference on the affairs of LLR.
Government through LLR founding shareholder – Botswana Development Corporation has a controlling stake of around 40 percent in the company. Government is the sole shareholder of Botswana Development Corporation.
Letlole La Rona recently released their financial results for the six months ended December 2022, revenue increased by 4% to P50.2 million from P48.4 million in the prior comparative six months, whilst operating profit was up 8% to P36.5 million. Profit before tax of P49.7 million was reported, an increase of 8% on the prior comparative six months.
“We are encouraged by the strong results, notwithstanding a challenging economic environment. Our performance was mainly underpinned by annual lease escalations, our quality tenant base and below average market vacancy levels, especially in our warehouse portfolio,” Kamogelo Mowaneng, Letlole La Rona Chief Executive Officer commented.
LLR reported a weighted average lease expiry period of 3.3 years and escalation rates averaging 6.8% per annum for the period ended 31 December 2022.Its investment portfolio value increased by 14% year-on-year to close the period at P1.4 billion, mainly driven by the acquisition of a 30% stake in OAL in July 2022.
The Company also recorded a significant increase in other income, predominantly due to foreign exchange gains on the OAL shareholder loan. “We continue to explore pipeline opportunities locally, and regionally in line with our Go-to-Africa strategy and our interest remains on value-accretive investments,” Mowaneng said.
An interim distribution of 9.11 thebe per linked unit was declared on the 6th of February 2023 for the half-year period to 31 December 2022, comprising of a dividend of 0.05 thebe and debenture interest of 9.06 thebe per linked unit which will be paid to linked unit holders registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on 24 February 2023.

Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.
The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.
“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.
In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices. Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.
“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.
Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.
“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.