Hopes shattered as TNMC caves in

Reacting to the mine closure, the Francistown mayor, Sylvia Muzila said the closure is a wake up call for all to join hands and come up with new strategies that can save the city’s economy.

As TNMC is located on the outskirts of the city, its +/-700 employees resided in Francistown and commuted to their workplace daily.

Muzila said the mines provided a high-income bracket, which elevated their buying power and boosted the economy of the city. She stated that the closure is already impacting on the city’s economy negatively as Francistown had a vision of attracting investors through the mines.

“This dream shattered when the mines closed down. This challenges us to diversify and come up with better ways of saving the city’s economy,” Muzila said.

She said the city’s unemployment rate has increased since hundreds of people were laid off.

Muzila said the closure has had a huge negative impact on businesses and individuals who took advantage of the mines.

“The closure will impact negatively on people’s assets as they might put them for sale or rental hence forcing property markets to drop. This will also affect us as the council because we will be forced to reduce our rates,” Muzila said.

She added: “When the property market drops, it will surely affect the city’s economy”.

She said through their Francistown Investment Forum , the local authority is busy fast-tracking its investment drive to attract quality investors into the city.

“We are calling for investors who are into manufacturing to set up factories here. This sector is labour intensive and as such it will create more openings and more possibilities for locals,” Muzila said.

Botswana Diamonds Starts Drilling at Orapa Pipe

Botswana Diamonds said drilling commenced at one of its kimberlite pipes in the Orapa region of Botswana.

The drilling started at pipe AK 22, within license PL 260, which is part of a 50:50 joint venture between the company and Russian miner ALROSA.

Botswana Diamonds will make a further announcement “as soon as practicable” about the start of drilling at license PL 135 in the Gope region, which is also being explored in partnership with ALROSA

Kalahari Desert drilling starts, says Botswana Diamonds | 20 October 2016 | Stock Market Wire

"The Gope drill campaign is breaking new ground in one of the most remote deserts on Earth. There are no people, even water must be transported long distances and the sand is deep. Temperatures can differ by 50 Celsius between day and night.

"No mining companies have ventured here before to undertake drilling programmes. And yet the preliminary geochemical and geophysical indicators are strongly positive. We are at the cutting edge of diamond exploration and are cautiously optimistic of finding kimberlites."