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The Jwaneng pipe was discovered in the Naledi River Valley (‘Valley of the Stars’), Southern Botswana, in 1972.
Jwaneng Mine is one of the richest diamond mines in the world. The mine became fully operational in August 1982, when it was officially opened by the then President of Botswana, His Excellency Sir Ketumile Masire. Construction of the mine and the township commenced rapidly, the former coming into full production in July 1982.
Jwaneng Mine is the flagship of Debswana due to substantially higher dollar per carat obtained for its gems. Jwaneng Mine contributes about 60-70% of Debswana’s total revenue
Currently Jwaneng is mining at a depth of 452 metres and is expected to reach 816 metres by 2034.
The resource consists of three separate volcanic pipes/vents namely; north, south and centre pipes (two additional small kimberlite bodies have also been intersected within the pit). The pipes erupted through Transvaal strata and the overlying Karoo sediments ~245 million years ago.
Production normally varies according to mining plans of approximately 12.7 million carats from 11.2Mt treated per year from the Main Treatment plant and Jwaneng Modular plant combined. In 2020, Jwaneng produced 7,537,911 total saleable carats. Carats production was reduced from the normal 12,7million carats in response to covid-19 pandemic that affected the mining sector worldwide. Despite this impact, Jwaneng Mine continues to produce very high quality diamonds, making the mine one of the richest diamond mine in the world, by value.
In addition to achieving its annual production targets, Jwaneng Mine maintains an excellent safety record. Since 1984, the Mine has achieved one of the lowest disabling injury incident rates in Botswana. The Mine’s environmental and safety systems are certified by independent third party auditors as being in conformance with the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard and the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment series standard.
Within the boundaries of the Jwaneng mining lease area, there is Jwana Game Park, which measures 15 669 hectares and accommodates approximately 1 700 animals. The park also hosts a field unit of Cheetah Conservation Botswana, as well as white rhinos.
The scope of the Jwaneng Resource Extension Project (JREP) involves the delivery of an indicated resource estimate down to 850m below surface, which will then support mining operations for the next 20 years including all key expansion activities such as the Cut 8 and Cut 9 projects.
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