Precious Metals Mining in Botswana to 2020 - a Focus on the Diamond Industry

The country’s rough diamond production is expected to reach 25.3 million carats by 2014 and 32.2 million carats in 2020. In 2009, the county’s diamond industry declined sharply due to the global economic crisis, emphasizing the country’s reliance on export demand, leading to a fall in rough diamond production. Botswana’s rough diamonds are mostly exported to the US, Europe and Japan. These three destinations made up 84.7% of the country’s total exports in 2012.

BTC shares bill gets parley thumbs up

“This therefore calls for the amendment of BTC (Transition) Act 2008 to indicate that the Employee Share Ownership Plan to be established will be exclusively for citizens,” he explained. The details of the Employee Share Ownership Plan are currently being finalised.



In a related development, legislator, Tawana Moremi of the Ngamiland constituency objected saying he was afraid the amendment will tamper with people’s rights, adding that shareholders have a right to sell “to whoever they want.”

Turnstar Holdings Worried About Botswana’s Excess Supply Of Office Space

“There is already evidence of declining base rentals and hardening investment yields due to an oversupply of office space and shopping centres around the city,” the statement added.

Turnstar Holdings which also has business interest in Tanzania said its core business is to invest in real estate property and generate rental income.

The company also said it will also embark imminent expansion projects especially Game City in Botswana and Mlimani City properties in Tanzania.

“Game City will be expanded to include additional retail space including a fashion avenue, restaurant area including a food court, entertainment area and a parkade. Mlimani City will be expanded to include additional retail and commercial space including basement parking, additions to the Conference Centre and a Botanical Garden,” said the company’s report.

Letshego Bank Namibia Limited Gets Banking Licences

"The provisional licenses for authorisation are effectively valid for a period of six months from the effective date of 15 July 2014. After this period, the bank may issue a certificate of authorisation to these entities to conduct banking business, provided that they satisfactorily fulfilled the readiness requirements before commencing with banking operations," central bank spokesman, Ndangi Katoma said.

Tsodilo Resources: Exposure To Botswana's Undiscovered Mineral Riches - Tsodilo Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:TSDRF) | Seeking Alpha

Tsodilo Resources Limited (TSDRF), Includes: FQVLF

Summary

• JV Partnership with First Quantum Minerals for Copper Exploration.
• Xaudum Iron Project with Potential for 5-7 Billion Tonnes.
• Botswana-based Prospect Generator with Company-Owned Drill Rigs.

(Editor's Note: Investor's should be mindful of the risks of transacting in illiquid securities such as TSDRF. Tsodilo's Canadian listing, TSD.V, offers an additional alternative, but is also highly illiquid.)

Featured Investment: Tsodilo Resources Ltd (CVE:TSD

Tsodilo Resources (OTC:TSDRF) an exploration/development company with operations in Botswana. The company has uniquely positioned itself as (1) a Botswana-based prospect generator, (2) an iron ore development play, and (3) a promising "carried interest" copper play. With a current market capitalization of ~ $40M, the company offers excellent speculative upside. Additionally, TSD's multi-pronged approach and strong shareholder base provides a decent Margin of Safety at this valuation.

The Partnership has held TSD since inception with an average cost of $0.85 per share. As of July 15, Tsodilo is trading at $1.30. TSD is the second strongest performer of the 7 holdings (out of 25 current holdings) that the Partnership has stuck with since inception in September 2011. Additionally, due to this outperformance, TSD is one of the Partnership's top 3 largest holdings.

In this Featured Investment piece, I start by providing the investment theses for copper and iron ore (the two metals of most interest to Tsodilo shareholders). It is important to keep in mind that Tsodilo has not yet found a copper deposit and is only just starting to define its Xaudum Iron Ore Formation. If the company doesn't ultimately find economic copper or iron ore, then the prospects for these two commodities are irrelevant. Conversely, if the company does end up gaining exposure to a world-class copper or iron ore deposit, then shareholders will be rewarded regardless of the copper/iron ore price (baring a monumental collapse). Regardless, I thought it would be good to share my investment theses on both of these metals for some broader perspective on the Tsodilo Resources story.

I then profile the African country of Botswana - the sole jurisdiction in which TSD operates (though the company does have their corporate office in Toronto). The stability of Botswana both geopolitically and as a viable mining destination is essential to the success of this investment.

I conclude with my investment thesis for Tsodilo, covering the company's background, management team, current operations, and ultimate upside as an investment. I then comment on Tsodilo's Margin of Safety as, with any investment, understanding the downside is just as important as knowing what there is to gain.

Pangolin Diamonds Recovers Macro-Diamond From Malatswae

Pangolin Diamonds Corp. (the "Company" or "Pangolin") (TSX VENTURE:PAN) is pleased to announce the recovery of a macro-diamond from a soil sample on its recently acquired Malatswae project prospecting licence PL247/2014. The project is located in north-central Botswana and is 100%-owned by Pangolin.



A regional soil sample, numbered MSC119, weighing approximately 40kg was collected and then processed at Pangolin's DMS plant in Francistown, Botswana. A concentrate was then independently examined in Gaborone by a specialist consultant who subsequently submitted the stone to C.F. Mineral Research Limited in Kelowna, Canada who confirmed the diamond.



The white diamond weighs 0.005484 carats and was retained on a standard Endecotts sieve with the mesh size 0.600mm. The diamond is therefore classified as a macro-diamond - greater than 0.500mm in at least one direction.



Malatswae Diamond Project



The Malatswae Kimberlite Project covers 1,058km2 and is located 70km southeast of the Orapa Mine. The Project area hosts a number of kimberlite targets. Previous work by Pangolin Diamonds demonstrated that the chemical compositions of garnets recovered in soil samples are distinctly different from the garnets from the Orapa kimberlite field, suggesting that an undiscovered kimberlite may be found within the project area.



Quality Control and Quality Assurances



Quality assurance procedures, security, transport, storage, and processing protocols conform to chain of custody requirements. The diamond results reported here are based on laboratory work completed by C.F. Mineral Research Limited, Kelowna, Canada an independent mineral processing laboratory. Residues are retained and are available for review and audit.



Pangolin exploration programs are carried out under the supervision of Rick G. Bonner, P. Geol., who directs operations in Botswana for Pangolin Diamonds.

More Competition for Banking Sector in Namibia

NEWLY licenced banks, Letshego Bank Namibia and Banco Privado Atlantico Europa are expected to increase competition in the banking sector.

The commercial banking space has long been dominated by FNB Namibia, Nedbank, Standard Bank and Bank Windhoek, the largest commercial banks.

Last week, the Bank of Namibia announced that the Botswana based, Letshego and the Portugal based Banco had been granted provisional licences for six months.

Mythri Sambasivan-George, head of corporate affairs at Letshego says the group plans to become a leading African financial services group.

George said future plans include building deposit taking capabilities, diversifying into and microfinance lending.

"The issue of this provisional licence is a key milestone in its transformational journey and will enable the group to meet its commitment to improve lives and financial inclusion in Namibia. This is the third deposit-taking micro financial licence obtained across the group's ten country footprint in Southern and East Africa," said George.

Letshego was formed in 1998 and has been publicly listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) since 2002.

It is a holding company with consumer and micro lending subsidiaries across 10 countries in Southern and East Africa - Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda.

Letshego is the second largest quoted company on the Botswana Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation in excess of US$550 million.

The group offers loans between US$1 000 and US$40 000. In the year ended 31 January 2014 advances increased by 33% to US$500 million and profit before tax for the same period was recorded at US$ 97 million.

CEO of Banco Privado, Diogo Cunha, declined to comment on future plans.

"At this moment we do not have additional comments. We will certainly contact you to share more information once we are nearer to the date of opening," Cunha said. The shareholders of Banco Privado Atlantico Europa are, Surviving Global, Asset Management, SA (72,3%), Banco Millennium Angola, SA (6,7%) and management (21%).

In April, Reuters reported that another bank with Portuguese and Angolan connections, Banco BIC, backed by the billionaire daughter of the country's president and a Portuguese cork tycoon, was planing to ramp up its branch network at home while also expanding overseas to operate in four continents.

BIC opened an office in Johannesburg in February and applied for a licence to operate in Namibia.

Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and who ranks as one of the continent's richest businesswomen, owns a quarter of BIC Angola. Americo Amorim, one of Portugal's richest men, also owns 25%, Reuters reported.

Bisan bets on Botswana graphite - Proactiveinvestors (AU)

Bisan Limited (ASX:BSN) will trade higher after proposing to invest in a Botswana graphite project, to be owned by a company to be formed called Pencil Hill.

The company intends to acquire a 30% interest Pencil Hill that will hold a 80% interest in the graphite prospecting licence.

Bisan will also have a first right of refusal to subscribe to additional shares and acquire an additional 21% giving Bisan the opportunity to move to 51% of the issued capital.

Plans are also being made to list the new company as an initial public offering.

The consideration for the additional equity will be based on an agreed value most likely to be the IPO price offered to the public or by an independent expert selected by both parties. 

The proposed acquisition will be conditional upon due diligence drilling to be completed by Bisan to verify previous
results, and necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals.

If Bisan does proceed, then the consideration to subscribe to 30% of the issued capital of Pencil Hill is $2 million.

In addition, Bisan currently holds 13.8% of the issued capital of P-Fuel Limited, an unlisted public company. 

Bisan will invest a further $150,000 by subscribing for 3,000,000 new ordinary shares in P-Fuel at $0.05 per share to increase its equity interest to 16.06%.

P-Fuel is developing technology to convert plastics into diesel fuel.

P-Fuel also proposes to undertake an IPO under which Bisan shareholders will be given a priority allocation.

Bisan is also proceeding with a placement to raise $549,463 via issue of 36,630,895 shares at $0.015, with free attaching options exercisable at $0.05 and expiry on 31 December 2018.

Six Southern African Nations, EU Conclude EPA Negotiations

Chief negotiators of the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) have concluded negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), it was announced Tuesday.

The agreement takes into account the differences in the level of development between the EU and its African partners. It will open a long-term perspective of duty- and, quota-free access to the EU market for products from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland.

South Africa will trade with the EU on the basis of improved conditions that build on the existing EU-South Africa Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA).

The EU, in turn, will gain improved access to the SADC EPA market, particularly in the field of agriculture. Also, when SADC EPA countries will be ready to grant more far-reaching concessions to the Europe's main competitors, the EU will be able to claim those same improvements.

The members of the SADC EPA group will continue being able to shield sensitive sectors from European competitors in their domestic market. In addition, they can invoke a number of safeguards incorporated in the agreement.

This will offer them all the necessary flexibility, so that trade can work for and not against development. Following the same logic, the EU has also taken a commitment to refrain from subsidizing its agricultural exports to the region.

The SADC EPA Group consists of 6 out of 15 members of the Southern African Development Community (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) plus Angola, which may join the agreement in future.

The other eight SADC Member States (Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) are negotiating in other regional EPA configurations.

Diamonds.net - Global Diamond Production +11% to $14B in 2013

Diamonds.net - Global Diamond Production +11% to $14B in 2013

Global diamond production by value rose 11 percent year on year to $14.09 billion in 2013, due mainly to an increase in the average price of rough diamonds, according to annual data published by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. By volume, global production increased 2 percent to 130.48 million carats, while the average price of production grew 9 percent to $107.95 per carat. 



Botswana’s production rose 22 percent to $3.63 billion with the volume of its production up 13 percent to 23.19 million carats. The average price of Botswana's rough rose 8 percent to $156.36 per carat.

Discovery Metals’ update on recapitalisation proposal with Montsant Partners LLC | Mining & Travel

Discovery Metals’ update on recapitalisation proposal with Montsant Partners LLC | Mining & Travel

Tacy LTD - LUCARA EARNS $50.5M FROM YEAR'S FIRST EXCEPTIONAL STONE TENDER

Tacy LTD - LUCARA EARNS $50.5M FROM YEAR'S FIRST EXCEPTIONAL STONE TENDER



14 April 2014

Lucara Diamond Corp. reports that its first Exceptional Stone Tender of 2014 generated gross revenues of $50.47 million, or $42,347 per carat. The special tender of diamonds from the Karowe mine in Botswana, completed on April 10, 2014, consisted of 20 single stone lots totaling 1,191 carats, all of which were sold.

The highest value stones sold were a 167.-carat diamond and an 86.8-carat diamond, which sold for $12.7 million ($75,821/ct) and $5.1 million ($58,627/ct), respectively. Of the 20 diamonds on offer, 15 of these sold for more than $1 million, including eight, which sold for more than $2 million, notes the TSX-listed miner.

In addition to the exceptional stone tender, Lucara held two regular diamond tenders in the first quarter of 2014. A total of 107,500 carats were sold for combined revenues of $33.6 million. This, together with the exceptional stone tender, brings the total year-to-date revenues to $84.06 million, or $782 per carat.

"Strong regular tenders combined with the outstanding results from the exceptional stone tender continue to demonstrate the quality of the Karowe Mine and firmly establishes Karowe as one of the world's leading diamond producers by value, further reinforcing the updated resource statement issued in December 2013," says William Lamb, President and CEO.

According to Lamb, the company's next exceptional stone tender will be scheduled for the third quarter of this year. "Karowe Mine has, this year, produced a number of high value diamonds which we are considering for this tender, including a 153.5-carat gem quality stone."

Heavy haul rail projects to benefit African Energy’s Botswana coal

Heavy haul rail projects to benefit African Energy’s Botswana coal - Energy Business Review

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) said that in 2015, the construction is
set commence on the 105km heavy-haul coal rail link between Botswana and
South Africa, immediately after the completion of feasibility studies.



The construction is a part of a R300 billion infrastructure investment program initiated by TFR.

Approximately
R40 billion has been allocated by TFR for the construction of this rail
link which will link into existing coal heavy-haul railway lines.



Designed
to carry 40-80 million tons per year, the rail link will transport coal
from Botswana into South Africa for state-electricity generator Eskom,
or exported through the seaborne market.



Gama said, "We are
planning to develop the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to support the
expected [volumes] from Botswana and the Waterberg coalfield in South
Africa."