- Orapa, which means ‘resting place of lions’ in Setswana, is De Beers Group’s oldest operating mine in Botswana.
- It is the largest open-pit mine in the world.
- The open-pit mine, located in central Botswana 240km west of Francistown, was discovered in 1967 by a team of De Beers geologists.
- It subsequently became fully operational in July 1971, when it was officially opened by the then President of Botswana, His Excellency Sir Seretse Khama.
- Orapa’s kimberlite covers an area of 118 square kilometres at the surface. It has the world’s second largest diamond-producing kimberlite pipe, which is actually made up of two separate pipes (or intrusions) that coalesced near the surface about 93 million years ago.
- Over its 15-year life, Orapa is expected to produce around 153 million carats from 205 million tonnes of ore.
- Currently, Orapa is mining at a depth of 250 metres and is expected to reach 450 metres by 2026.
- It employs more than 2,800 full-time employees and 237 on fixed-term contracts.
- Production normally varies according to mining plans at an average of 12 million carats per year. In 2014, Orapa produced 12,073,522 carats.
- Orapa town serves as the administrative centre for the Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines.
Reference: http://www.debeersgroup.com/botswana/en/who-we-are/de-beers-in-botswana/debswana/Orapa.html
Posted In: Mining
