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Events/Discovery · 1967

De Beers finds the Orapa kimberlite

Discovery, 1 March and 25 April 1967, Botswana.

What happened

De Beers geologists found Botswana's first diamond-bearing kimberlite on 1 March 1967. On 25 April the same team found the Orapa pipe.1,2

Why it matters

Orapa was the first mine opened by the company, ahead of Letlhakane (1977) and Jwaneng (1982).1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Williamson diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The Tanzanian diamond mine is dated to 1940 in Wikidata.3

  2. Mir kimberlite pipe found in Yakutia

    The journal calls Mir one of the largest and best known diamond deposits in Russia and the world.4,5

  3. De Beers finds the Orapa kimberlite

    Orapa was the first mine opened by the company, ahead of Letlhakane (1977) and Jwaneng (1982).1,2

  4. De Beers Botswana Mining Company formed

    Debswana is the joint venture behind Botswana's diamond mines.1,6

  5. Orapa diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The Botswana diamond mine is dated to 1971 in Wikidata.7

  6. Orapa mine officially opened

    Orapa was the first mine opened by the company, ahead of Letlhakane (1977) and Jwaneng (1982).1,2

  7. Argyle diamond pipe AK1 found

    It became the world's largest diamond producer by volume.8,9,10

  8. Jwaneng diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The Botswana diamond mine is dated to 1982 in Wikidata.11

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Where next

Mines

Located inOrapaDe Beers found Botswana's first kimberlite on 1 March 1967 and the Orapa pipe on 25 April.1

Events

Led toDe Beers Botswana Mining Company formedDe Beers Botswana Mining Company was incorporated on 23 June 1969.1

Sources

  1. Report to Stakeholders 2014 (key milestones 1967 to 2014) Debswana Diamond Company
  2. Orapa diamond mine (item Q859817), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q3314859 (Williamson diamond mine)
  4. Diamond deposit of the Mir kimberlite pipe: main research stages (abstract, 2025) Mining Industry Journal
  5. Mir diamond mine (item Q1369879), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Gaborone (item Q3919), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Wikidata item Q859817 (Orapa diamond mine)
  8. The iconic Argyle diamond mine delivers its final production (3 Nov 2020) Rio Tinto
  9. Diamonds (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  10. Argyle diamond mine (item Q652475), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  11. Wikidata item Q4160014 (Jwaneng diamond mine)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Ore sorting by Tomra Sorting GmbH, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Kimberley, South Africa: the Kimberley mine and town. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kopermijn te Kolwezi in de provincie Shaba (Katanka), Mieremet, Rob / Anefo / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).