Debswana

Debswana Diamond Company Ltd.

Industry	Mining
Predecessor	De Beers Botswana Mining Company
Founded	June 23, 1969 (1969-06-23)
Headquarters	Gaborone, Botswana
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Diamonds Coal
Owner(s)	Government of Botswana (50%) De Beers (50%)
Website	Debswana.com

Debswana Diamond Company Ltd, or simply Debswana, is a giant mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of the company. Debswana operates four diamond mines in central Botswana, as well as a coal mine.

Mines

The mines owned and operated by Debswana are:

• Diamond mines:
  • Orapa diamond mine, opened in 1971
  • Letlhakane diamond mine, opened in 1975
  • Jwaneng diamond mine, opened in 1982
  • Damtshaa diamond mine, opened in 2003
• Coal mine:
  • Morupule Colliery, opened in 1973

History

Debswana offices in downtown Gaborone

Debswana was formed as the De Beers Botswana Mining Company on June 23, 1969, after De Beers geologists identified diamond-bearing deposits at Orapa in the 1960s. Over the next five years, the government of Botswana increased its ownership stake from an original 15% to a full 50%. In 1991, the company changed names to Debswana Diamond Company Ltd and moved its headquarters to Gaborone.

Production

All diamond mining in Botswana is controlled by Debswana; there are no private diamond mining operations in the country. Combined production of the company's four mines totaled 30 million carats (6,000 kg), nearly a quarter of the world's annual production of around 130 million carats (26,000 kg). The high value per weight of diamonds mined by Debswana has made the company the leading producer of diamonds by value in the world.

Economic impact

Diamond mining activities have fueled much of the growth in Botswana's economy, allowing it to grow from one of the poorest countries in the world when it became independent in 1966 to a "middle income" nation, with $9,200 per capita income in 2004. Largely because of this, Botswana is considered by two major investment services to be the safest credit risk in Africa. Diamonds account for fully one third of the nation's GDP, over 90% of earnings from exports, and 50% of government revenues. Debswana is the largest non-government employer in the country, employing approximately 6,300 people, of whom over 93% are Batswana. Debswana is also the largest earner of foreign currency.

Criticism

Human rights

Debswana has been criticized by the international indigenous rights organization, Survival International, for not respecting the human rights of the Bushmen living in Botswana. Since the mid-eighties, Survival International have published reports that the Botswana government has conducted a campaign of harassment to drive them out and give way to mining exploration. Louis Nchindo, Managing Director of Debswana, has said "The Government was justified in removing the Basarwa [’Bushmen'] from the Reserve… It is sensible of Government to take such action. Otherwise who would always want to remain in the Dark Ages while others move forward?".^[1] According to Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, the Bushmen are not backward or primitive, and their human and cultural rights must be respected.^[2]

See also

• Diamonds as an investment
• Economy of Botswana

References

1. ^ Bushman land carved up for diamond exploration, Survival International
2. ^ Survival and the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve: 39 questions

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "Botswana".

External links

• Debswana official website
• Debswana profile on the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre