Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value, second largest by volume. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50% of the company. Debswana operates four diamond mines in central Botswana, as well as a coal mine.
Diamonds were first discovered in the country in the 60’s and the first mine, Orapa, opened in 1971. Within a decade there were three mines operational in the country and another opened in the early 2000’s. One of the mines, Jwaneng is the richest diamond mine in the world. The four mines combined produce roughly a quarter of the worlds annual diamond production.
Diamonds account for 30% of Botswana’s GDP and Debswana is the largest employer in the country. The diamond industry has been a major contributor to Botswana’s socio-economic growth, taking it from a poor, agricultural based economy, to a strong middle class and an economy that has consistently achieved one of the highest economic growth rates in the world over the last 50 years.
The office building in front of you comprises Debswana’s Head Office and DTC Botswana (Diamond Trading Company). DTCB is responsible for the sorting, valuation, and selling of rough diamonds. The latter used to be performed in Europe, but in recent years the operation has been moved to Gaborone. It is the world’s largest and most sophisticated rough diamond sorting and valuing operation, with a capacity to sort 45 million carats a year
This is a quick roadside micro cache on the road from the airport. BYOP.