Why Botswana?
There are many reasons why Botswana is a favourable destination for mineral exploration in Africa…
Politically stable and transparent…
Botswana enforces a multi-party democratic tradition, with general elections held every five years. The nation has a rating of 0.98 points on The World Bank’s Political Stability index, far above the world average of -0.07 points.
A strong and rapidly growing economy…
The World Bank reports that Botswana’s economy will grow by 4% in 2023. The nation also has the fifth-highest gross national income per capita in Africa.
Highly regarded investment destination…
Botswana is ranked among the top ten nations globally in the Fraser Institute’s latest Investment Attractiveness Index for miners and explorers.
Supportive and sustainable mining legislation…
The granting of a mining licence in Botswana relies on clear and transparent criteria. Applicants must demonstrate the financial resources, technical competence, and experience to maintain effective and sustainable operations. The country has a track record of successful mining M&A activity.
Well established infrastructure…
Botswana’s enormous diamond mining industry has ensured a quality infrastructure system spanning the transport, water, sanitation, power, and telecoms sectors.
Our Projects
The Kalahari Copper Belt Project
The Kalahari Suture Zone Project
The Ditau Camp Project
Unlocking Botswana’s underexplored potential
Botswana is already Africa’s leading diamond producer. But the nation’s thick Kalahari Desert sands have historically hidden wider untapped mineral potential.
This Kalahari Cover was previously near-impossible for exploration surveying and drilling technologies to penetrate economically. This means highly prospective areas that would have otherwise been explored remain overlooked – including much of what are now Kavango’s project areas.
This is now changing. Recent advances in mineral exploration and geophysical technologies are overcoming such barriers and opening new opportunities.
Early movers have already enjoyed great success.
A major investment by privately-held Khoemacau Copper Mining has led to the opening of a world-class copper mine set to produce 60,000 tonnes of copper and around two million ounces of silver per year.
The Motheo (T3) copper project owned by Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) has recently come on stream and is set to be followed by other deposits in the Kalahari Copper Belt.
Kavango is positioned to join this growing list of success stories by exploring its licence areas with state-of-the-art technology including:
Time-Domain Electromagnetic surveys, which fire an electrical current into the ground and monitor the electrical feedback generated. This helps to identify conductive targets and define where metals might be present.
Controlled Source Audio-Frequency Magnetotelluric surveys, which map naturally-occurring energy sources in the ground down to depths of up to 4km. This is crucial in sediment covered regions.
Gravity surveys, which measure the density of materials below surface. The greater the gravity values, the denser the rock, with contrasts helping to identify areas that could contain mineralisation.
Magnetic surveys, which map the Earth’s magnetic field from the air or on the ground. Since different rocks show different levels of magnetisation, the information can reveal key information about geological structures.
Location of the three Project areas in Botswana with neighbouring countries
Mining in Botswana
The Department of Mines and Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security (MMGE) maintains data regarding mining throughout the country. Debswana, the largest diamond mining company operating in Botswana, is owned as to 50:50 by the government and De Beers. In 2007, significant quantities of uranium were discovered, and several international mining corporations have established regional headquarters in Botswana, and prospected for diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, nickel and coal.
Mining activities have been taking place in Botswana since the nineteenth century with the advent of the gold rush in the northern part of the country. Diamonds have been the leading component of the mineral sector since large-scale diamond production began in the early 1970’s. In 2016, Botswana was the world’s second leading producer of diamonds by value. The country also produces coal, cobalt, copper, gold, nickel, platinumgroup metals (PGMs), salt, sand and gravel, semiprecious gemstones and silver.
In the long term, Botswanan GDP from mining is projected to trend around BWP 11,114 million in 2020 (USD1.00/BWP10).
MMGE oversees the operations and development of the energy, water and minerals sector in Botswana. Mining activities are chiefly administered under the Mines and Minerals Act, 1999 as amended from time to time. This legislation allows the government to acquire a minority stake (generally 15%) in mining projects, at the time of the grant of a mining licence, as a partner and seek participation in the mining projects through board representation. The act regulates the issuance of exploration and mining licenses and tries to reach a balance between mining activity and environmental impact.
