Botswana is endowed with vast mineral resources and these include diamonds, base metals (copper, nickel and cobalt), and soda ash, salt and coal minerals. Mining in Botswana dates back to ancient times although modern mining began in the late 1960s, with the coming in of the Orapa Kimberlite in 1971. Since then a number of modern mines have opened and today copper, nickel, coal, soda ash, salt and diamond minerals are being mined in Botswana. Potential exists for further discoveries and opening of more new mines. The table below shows mineral statistics in Botswana over the last 11 years.


Table : Mineral production statistics from 1999-2009

YEAR	DIAMONDS (000's Carats)	Ni/Cu MATTE				COAL (t)	SODA ASH (t)	SALT (t)	GOLD (kg)
		Matte (t)	Contained Metal
			Nickel	Copper	Cobalt
1999	21,263	59,877	22,898	20,960	332	945,316	233,643	233,069	8
2000	24,635	48,420	21,446	18,722	308	946,900	191,000	184,800	4
2001	26,190	50,999	22,454	19,209	325	930,374	251,231	178,646	2
2002	28,368	56,626	23,896	21,590	269	953,081	283,197	315,259	8
2003	30,412	51,983	27,400	24,289	294	822,780	234,520	229,432	9
2004	31,125	54,448	22,292	21,195	223	913,087	263,358	208,319	162
2005	31,890	68,637	28,212	26,704	326	984,876	279,085	243,945	2,709
2006	34,293	64,368	26,762	24,255	303	962,427	255,677	151,595	3,020
2007	33,639	53,947	22,844	19,996	242	828,164	279,625	165,710	2,722
2008	32,595	61,686	28,940	23,146	337	909,511	263,566	170,994	3,170
2009	17,734	54,340	29,616	24,382	342	737,798	215,188	241,114	1,626

Diamond Mining

Botswana is the world’s leading producer of gem quality diamonds, consistently producing between 30 to some 34 million carats between 2003 and 2008.  Production was severely impacted in 2009 due to the global economic downturn, although signs of the world global recovery are encouraging.

Diamond mining and production is mainly from Debswana Diamond Mining Company owned by the Government (50%) and De Beers (50%). Debswana owns Orapa, Letlhakane, Damtsha and Jwaneng Mines.

There are a number of exploration activities for diamonds in Botswana and these have led to a number of discoveries of diamondiferous kimberlite pipes. Potential therefore exists for more diamond mines. In December 2006 DiamonEx Botswana was granted a mining licence to mine diamonds near Lerala village, at the rate of 330,000 carats per annum for 10 years. The Lerala diamond plant is still under commissioning and has already sent a parcel of 10,613 carats to start the sales.  A mining licence was issued in October 2008 to Boteti Exploration (Pty) Ltd to mine diamond at AKO6.  There is a promising prospecting at Gope deposit owned by Gope Exploration Company, a subsidiary of Gem Diamonds. They are in the negotiating stage of the diamond mining licence application.

Base Metals Mining

Copper, Nickel and Cobalt minerals are mined and produced from Tati Nickel Mining Company, Mowana Mine and BCL Mine. Tati Mining Company is owned by Norilsk Nickel (85%) and Botswana Government (15%) and production is from the Selkirk and Phoenix mines. BCL smelter processes concentrates from its own mines, Nkomati in South Africa and Tati Nickel Mining Company, to produce high grade matte (high sulphur and low sulphur matte). Low sulphur matte is refined in Zimbabwe refineries while high sulphur matte is refined in Norway to produce copper, nickel and other metals. Total metal production in BCL and Tati mines is about 52,000 tonnes of nickel, copper and cobalt.
Another potential Copper Mine to be developed in Botswana is in the Maun copper deposit owned by Discovery Metals Limited. Messina Copper (Botswana) (Pty) Ltd was granted a mining licence in 2006 for 25 years and it is currently in the commissioning state. Discovery Metals Limited are currently at the feasibility stage and mining is expected in 2010.

Gold Mining

There is currently one mine in operation, Mupane Gold Mine owned by IAMGOLD (Pty) Ltd. The Somerset Mine owned by Joren (Pty) Ltd has stopped mining operations but continues some promising exploration. Total annual gold production is about 3,000 kg. A number of exploration activities are currently ongoing particularly in the North East part of the country, and there is potential for more discoveries.

Coal Mining

Morupule Colliery is currently the only coal mine operating in Botswana despite huge coal resources in the country. Morupule Colliery produces about 1 million tonnes per annum. Production at the mine is expected to increase due to expansion of the Morupule power station. Morupule Colliery has commissioned a Coal Wash Plant in order to improve the quality of coal for export to the neighboring countries.

Coal resources in Botswana are estimated at about 212 billion tonnes. Botswana has huge coal resources that are not developed. A number of exploration companies have shown significant interest in Botswana Coal and Coal Bed Methane. Potential therefore exists for more coal mines. Currently a company called Meepong Energy Resources (Pty) Limited (MER) has applied for a mining license to open a new coal mine in Mmamabula to supply coal to the proposed Mmamabula power station with an installed capacity of 1,340 MW. The first phase is expected to be in operation by 2012-2013. The Mmamabula Energy Project will constitute a coal mine, coal washing plant and a mine-mouth power station. The project will generate power mainly for the export market to South Africa. The mine is expected to employ about 1,151 employees during the operation phase over a Life of Mine of more than 50 years.

In a nut shell, Botswana has potential for further discovery of more mineral deposits, not only for diamonds but for other minerals such as copper, nickel, gold, coal, coal bed methane and uranium. The number of exploration licences in 2007 for minerals other than diamond was 340 and 358 for diamonds. This indicates the strength of exploration activities in the country and a positive business environment for exploration companies.

Botswana is a stable, welcoming and investor-friendly nation. The country has good governance, excellent infrastructure, a well-educated and trainable workforce and has an excellent track record in dealing with investors. Investment attraction includes security of tenure, early access to ground and commitment to customer satisfaction. Mining is administered through the Mines and Minerals Act, 1999 (a copy can be accessed through the website www.mines.gov.bw).

Mineral Concessions

All mineral rights are vested in the state and one requires a licence to carry out mineral activities in the country. There are four mineral concessions:

• PROSPECTING LICENCE
  A prospecting license is valid for 3 years and can be renewed twice for a period of two years each (i.e., valid for 3 years, 2 years and 2 years).
  
• RETENTION LICENCE
  A retention licence is granted if the applicant has carried out a feasibility study in respect of the deposit to which the application relates in accordance with good industry practice and the study has established that the deposit cannot be mined on a profitable basis at the time of the application, the approved prospecting programme in respect of the area is complete, and the applicant is not in default. The retention licence is valid for 3 years and can be renewed once only for a period not exceeding 3 years.
  
• MINING LICENCE
  A mining licence is valid for a period not exceeding 25 years depending on the mining programme and can be renewed for a period not exceeding 25 years. The renewal is unlimited and largely depends on the mining programme.
  
• MINERAL PERMITS
  Mineral permits are mainly for small scale mining. The validity of the licence is 5 years with unlimited renewal.

Requirements for a Mineral Concession Application

A holder of a prospecting licence, retention licence, or a prospecting waiver (whereby an area has been sufficiently prospected for a particular mineral) may apply for a mining licence and should submit the following requirements or documentation to the Department of Mines.

• Surface Rights from land board or land authority
• Survey area - coordinates and total area applied for
• Prospecting Licence, Retention Licence, or waiver from Department of Geological Survey
• Consent from Prospecting Licence holder if area falls within a Prospecting Licence
• Archaeological clearance from the Department of National Museum and Art Gallery (DNMAG)
• Clearance from Department of Wildlife and National Parks
• Project Feasibility Report, which includes:
• Details of mineral deposit
• Technical report on mining and treatment possibilities
• Proposed programme of mining operations
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
• Forecast of capital investment, cash flow and details of anticipated financial plan
• Outline of proposed employment level and training program
• Outline of proposed sources of goods and services
• Details of expected infrastructure
  

Financial

The holder of a mineral concession is required to pay royalties to the Government on any mineral obtained. The royalties payable shall be the following percentages of gross market value:

Mineral Type	Percentage
Precious Stones	10%
Precious Metals	5%
Other Minerals	3%

To attract investors, the government abolished free equity participation and under the Mines and Mineral Act, 1999, the 15% equity is on agreed commercial terms. The fiscal regime is also on a variable income tax rate which depends on project profitability. Other incentives are immediate write-off of capital expenditure, unlimited carryover of tax losses and zero rating of import duty on mining equipment and spare parts. Botswana also fully recognizes that speedy access to geological information plays an important part and assists investors in their selection of exploration targets. Geological information compiled by the government since 1993 is freely available at the Department of Geological Survey.

Botswana and JOGMEC

In November 2007, the Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI) paid an official visit to Botswana. During the visit, Botswana and Japan entered into a new form of cooperation in the area of natural resources and energy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a "Geological Remote Sensing Centre" in Botswana for the exploration of mineral resources, especially rare metals, using Japanese space satellites.

The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation (JOGMEC), which has expertise in mineral exploration, and our Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources jointly launched the Centre within the Department of Geological Surveys in Lobatse - Botswana.

The JOGMEC Remote Sensing Centre has since provided training to engineers and geologists from Botswana on satellite image analysis. The same kind of training is being offered to other SADC countries.

The project stands to offer Botswana and the region a big advantage in effectively securing basic geological information in vast areas to mine and extract rare minerals. It also gives Japanese companies a big advantage for mineral exploration and mining investments in Southern Africa to meet the ever-increasing demand for rare metals. Japan and the SADC region will, therefore, be able to complement each other's efforts and develop a dynamic and forward-looking relationship in the mining sector.