The Directors of Botswana Diamonds (BOD) announced the beginning of an active programme of exploration in Botswana, first on licences in the Orapa area then in the Gope area. The exploration programme is being led by a team from Alrosa, a 50/50 joint venture partner to BOD, supported by an experienced BOD team.

John Teeling, Chairman, commented, “This is an important time for BOD. The exploration programme on two licences in the Orapa area of Botswana has great potential. The new licence, PL 260, already has known kimberlites containing diamonds. We want to test the belief that the grade improves at depth so we are taking a bulk sample to get reliable results. The follow up drilling on PL 210 will build on our 2015 drilling. We have reviewed data which gives us confidence that there are good levels of kimberlitic indicator minerals (KIMs) and hope that this drilling programme will validate this. Based on the angularity of the KIMs, we believe they have not travelled very far.” Early stage fieldwork will also start shortly on the new Gope licences obtained in late 2015. The programme is fully funded.