Facts about the Orapa Diamond Mine in Botswana

Located in the Orapa town of Botswana, the mine is sprawled out across an area of 118 square kilometers. It also holds the second position among the world’s Kimberlite mines that produce diamonds. There are two Kimberlite Pipes in the mine, which are believed to be formed 93 million years ago. The Kimberlite rock in Orapa is a part of the Supergroup Karoo that contains sedimentary and volcanic rocks. This group is situated above the Archaean granite.

The Orapa mine started functioning from July 1971 and its record production was in the year 2006 when 17.3 million carats of diamond were produced from here. Predictions suggest that mining operations will continue until 2033.

The mine processes an annual figure of 20 million ton of diamond ore apart from 40 million ton of waste. Consequently, the Orapa diamond mine is of great importance to the diamond industry, as it produces an average of 59 carats every 100 tons. The open-cast mine employs the truck and shovel method of the mining as the processed diamonds go on to produce some of the finest miner cut diamond rings and other jewelry.