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De Beers pins hopes on 'Deb Zeppelin' Posted: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 [miningmx.com] -- DE BEERS and its partner, the Botswana government, are spending R60m/year to discover diamonds using century-old technology. But old technology is being used to carry new technology; in fact, some of the world’s most sophisticated instruments are being dangled over Botswana, the world’s biggest source of rough diamonds. In a large circular clearing at the end of Jwaneng airport’s runway, a white cigar-shaped Zeppelin NT airship is tethered nose-first to a gantry in the middle of the field. It’s the backbone of Debswana’s – the De Beers/Botswana government joint venture – search for much-needed new sources of diamonds. The tinder-dry brown Botswana bush stretches in a dull, flat blanket on all sides of the craft, the successor to the one flown for the first time in 1900 by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. There’s a small maintenance facility on the edge of the clearing, with a space age-looking helium storage dome rising stark white above the arid scrub. The cutting-edge diamond hunting equipment stays on board the leased Zeppelin, nestled snugly in the belly of the gondola, which is shaped much like the body of a small aircraft and attached to the bottom of the balloon. The surveying equipment leased from Bell Geospace is so sensitive that it can’t effectively hunt for minute changes in the earth’s gravity from a vibrating helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. “The Zeppelin has proved to be technically perfect for what we want it to do,” said Brad Pitts, who heads the Debswana exploration programme. He declined to say if anything of substance has been found during the exercise, which started in late 2005. However, a source close to De Beers said at least one kimberlite is thought to have been discovered using the near-silent airship. The two-year lease of the Zeppelin expires in April next year, but Pitts thought it will be renewed for a third year and maybe longer to explore Botswana and certain targets in South Africa. The Zeppelin, one of three in the world, is manned by a German crew. They fly missions at night, when temperatures are more favourable, searching for the elusive diamondiferous kimberlite deposits De Beers so badly wants to find. Kimberlites are ancient volcanic plugs, shaped much like a carrot, which carried diamonds up to the earth’s crust in a splurge of lava. Diamond-bearing kimberlites are rare. Of the 6,500 known kimberlites, less than 50 can be commercially mined. The Zeppelin covers up to 800 square kilometres/month and produces data at more than 40 times the speed that ground crews could. “Debswana is by far the biggest single business entity in Botswana and it must be seen to be at the forefront of exploration,” said Des Kilalea, a diamond analyst at RBC Capital Markets in London. “De Beers also has only four mines of substance in its portfolio and it’s about to lose its Russian supply at year-end 2008. They need to add to their production portfolio.” The rough diamond supply agreement with Russia’s Alrosa has been terminated by European Commission competition authorities. New production for De Beers from Snap Lake and Victor in Canada will ease that loss, but to remain the supplier of choice for diamond clients, it needs to find more sources of rough stones. Debswana will spend R11bn over the next decade to enlarge its existing Botswana mines to sustain production. It will also build two new processing plants at Jwaneng and Orapa and dig a 1km deep exploration shaft at Jwaneng as the precursor to a fully-fledged underground mine in 2022. It’s the first time miners in Botswana are going deep underground to hunt for diamonds. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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