Botswana is threatening to walk away from its deal with De Beers unless it can get “more favorable” terms, IDEX Online reports. So far, attempts to negotiate the deal, signed in 2011 between Botswana and the mining giant, have failed. As per the 2011 agreement, “the government sells most of the country’s rough production through Debswana, a 50-50 partnership with De Beers.”
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi said during a rally of his ruling Botswana Democratic Party: “If we don’t achieve a win-win situation each party will have to pack its bags and go. We are upping the stakes because we want a larger share from our diamonds.”
Recently, it was reported that Botswana’s rough diamond sales rose 22% to $4.46 billion from January to November 2022 “as buyers turned their backs on Russian goods.” In addition, a new list by miningintelligence.com, quoted by IDEX Online, named the Jwaneng diamond mine, in Botswana, as the world’s richest diamond mine for the first three quarters of 2022. Jwaneng produced 10.3 million carats in 2022. Orapa, also in Botswana, came second with 8 million carats.
