Situated within 15 to 20km of four of Botswana’s most profitable diamond mines, Letlhakane village is the perfect location for an expo servicing the needs of these mines. The village is located in the central district of Botswana south of Mmatshumo, southeast of Orapa and west of Tlala Mabeli.
Three of these diamond mines are owned and operated by Debswana, a company co-owned by the Botswana government and De Beers. As one of the world leaders in diamond production, Debswana is a major contributor to the economy of the country. These operations include the tailings plant at Letlhakane (the plant for processing of tailings, which will extend the life of the operation to 2043, has been completed and is now operational. The plant has a capacity of up to 800,000 carats per annum, (https://www.debswana.com/Operations/Pages/Letlhakane-Mine.aspx), the conventional open pit mine at Orapa (currently Orapa is mining at a depth of 305 metres and is expected to reach 350 metres by 2026) and the company’s youngest operation at Damtshaa which is also an open pit operation. Orapa diamond mine in Botswana – the world’s largest by area – will continue mining up to just beyond 2050. Damtshaa is also estimated to have around 31 years LOM but is currently not in operation.
Visitors:
| Name of operation | Type of Operation | Owner of Operation | Commodity |
| Orapa Diamond Mine | Opencast | Debswana | Diamonds |
| Letlhakane Diamond Mine | Opencast | Debswana | Diamonds |
| Damtshaa Diamond Mine | Opencast | Debswana | Diamonds |
| Karowe Diamond Mine | Opencast | Lucara Diamond Corp | Diamonds |
Exhibitors we would like to see:
Companies that supply equipment or products to the diamond mining industry or that supply equipment or products that can be used in the diamond beneficiation process. Botswana is one of the world’s biggest diamond producing countries, so if you are involved in the diamond business, this is the expo for you. In addition, tailings solutions would likely be needed at Letlhakane as well as lock-out and electrical protection, apron feeders, tertiary crushers atection and HDPE piping for underground.