Best Prospect Industry – Mining

The mining industry has dominated the economy of Botswana since its independence in 1966. The sector accounts for roughly 70 to 80 percent of national foreign exchange earnings, 50 percent of government revenue, and 40 percent of GDP. Botswana’s mining industry consists mainly of diamonds. Other minerals include copper-nickel matte, coal, soda ash, salt, and small amounts of gold.

The Government’s main objective for the mineral sector is to continue to maximize the economic benefits for the nation while enabling private investors to earn competitive returns. The performance of the mineral sector has been remarkable; however, it has declined sharply and suddenly due to the global economic crisis. The GOB estimates that in 2009, Botswana's diamond sales revenue will decline by roughly 50 percent as prices are estimated to decrease by 15 percent and production expected to reduce by 35 percent.

Government policy continues to encourage prospecting and new mine development. Debswana, which is a 50/50 joint-venture between the Government of Botswana and the De Beers Corporation, is the nation’s main diamond mining company. De Beers Corporation and the Government of Botswana have signed license agreements for Debswana's four diamond mines through 2029. As demands to increase diamond

mining’s contribution to employment have risen, the Government has pressured Debswana to actively promote downstream processing of minerals, such as diamond cutting and polishing, diamond jewellery manufacturing and a rough diamond trading facility. Several new cutting and polishing companies recently opened in Botswana, however, operation and certainly growth of the nascent industry will be slowed if not temporarily stopped due to the global economic crisis. In fact, the planned repositioning of the main DeBeers diamond sorting facility has been put on hold until flagging revenues rebound.

Opportunities in the Botswana mining industry include mining equipment, services, prospecting and consulting