Orapa is a conventional open pit mine, situated 240 km west of Francistown. The mine began production in July 1971 and is the oldest running Debswana operation. Orapa's production continues to contribute significantly to Debswana's total carat output with 17,3 million carats being recovered in 2006.

The mine became fully operational in August 1982, when it was officialy opened by the then President of Botswana, His Excellency Sir Ketumile Masire.

Debswana maintains a 100-bed hospital in Orapa that caters for employees and acts as a referral hospital for the region. Employees' children have access to pre-primary and primary schools run by Debswana.

Orapa is committed to its environmental responsibilities and focuses on water conservation, waste management as well as maintenance of Orapa Game Park.

In 2004 the Orapa and Letlhakane Mines were awarded some of the highest international accolades being the National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) five star with a score of 91.5% and ISO 14001 re-accreditation which is the equivalent of an impeccable environmental management programme. In addition, the Orapa and Letlhakane Mines achieved 2 million fatality free shifts. This means that throughout 2004 and in part of 2003 there were no fatality occurrences.