Botswana Diamonds plans more drilling after anomaly shows up to 4 m kimberlite

15th September 2020 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

Botswana- and London-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has reported positive preliminary results from drilling undertaken at its Marsfontein project, in Botswana.

The objective of the company’s latest drilling campaign was to test a historical anomaly identified as M17 to see if it had potential to be an enlargement on the previously identified M8 kimberlite dyke at the project.

BOD drilled two holes at depths of 67 m and 61 m, respectively, with one of them intersecting 4 m of kimberlite from about 54 m to 58 m depth.

The company says this was one of the thickest intersections of kimberlite discovered in the Marsfontein and the company’s adjacent Thorny River concession area, aside from the Marsfontein M1 pipe and, therefore, warrants detailed ground geophysics in the area to further delineate the kimberlite blow.

The kimberlite cluster of Thorny River–Marsfontein–Klipspringer Mine has proved consistent in terms of its high-grade and diamond assortment which contains a relative abundance of coloured stones.

“Aside from the Klipspringer (kimberlite dyke) mine, the most economic zones have been the blows, being the Sugarbird, Kudu and the Marsfontein mines.  The purpose of the current exploration programme is to find more of these blows at Marsfontein,” BOD explains.

BOD is already in an advanced planning stage to continue the next phase of drilling on the kimberlite blow, using detailed ground geophysics, particularly ground electromagnetics, which was successfully used on the Thorny River area as well.

This work programme will also extend to other potential kimberlite blows in the Marsfontein/Thorny River project area. 

These exploration activities are all planned for the next quarter.