Botswana Diamonds and Petra have settled on a 3% royalty deal over production revenue generated from Reivilo cluster of kimberlites (“Reivilo”) in the Barkley West area of South Africa
The deal follows the awarding of prospecting licence over the Reivilo prospect to Botswana Diamonds. The licence allows Petra the 3% royalty and in return Botswana Diamonds accesses all the insights Petra accumulated during their work on the area.
Exploration programme
Botswana Diamonds will use this data to plan an exploration programme, saving the company time and money. Reivilo is located approximately 110 kilometres north-east of the actively producing Finsch diamond mine. Barkley West was the site of the first major diamond rush in South Africa in 1870.
Exploration by the previous licence-holder Petra was reported to have delineated a cluster of three kimberlite pipes, with sizes of 3.1 hectares, 1.7 hectares and 0.9 hectares all within a 250-metre radius. Samples of the drilling core produced G10 and eclogitic garnets which are the optimal indicators for diamondiferous kimberlites.
John Teeling, chairman, commented; “We are very pleased with this award. When the ground became recently available, we immediately applied for the area. Botswana Diamonds management have long been aware of the diamond potential of this ground, and so we are delighted to have finally been awarded this high-profile exploration ground and look forward to updating shareholders in the near future on developments”.
