Drag to turn the globe

Events/Company founded · 1971

Orapa mine officially opened

Company founded, 1971-07-01, Botswana.

What happened

Orapa mine was officially opened on 1 July 1971 by President Sir Seretse Khama.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. Mir kimberlite pipe found in Yakutia

    The journal calls Mir one of the largest and best known diamond deposits in Russia and the world.3,4

  2. De Beers finds the Orapa kimberlite

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

  3. De Beers Botswana Mining Company formed

    Debswana is the joint venture behind Botswana's diamond mines.1,5

  4. Kimberlite pipes found at Jwaneng

    Jwaneng went on to become a core Debswana mine.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

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Founded bySeretse KhamaSeretse Khama is part of this story: Orapa mine officially opened.1

Mines

Located inOrapaSee the mine at the heart of this story: Orapa.1

Events

Led toKimberlite pipes found at JwanengJwaneng's pipes were found in March 1971. The mine opened on 14 August 1982.1Came out ofDe Beers Botswana Mining Company formedPresident Seretse Khama opened Orapa on 1 July 1971.1

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. Diamond deposit of the Mir kimberlite pipe: main research stages (abstract, 2025) Mining Industry Journal
  4. Mir diamond mine (item Q1369879), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Gaborone (item Q3919), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Jwaneng diamond mine (item Q4160014), 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.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

A containerised ore sorter on legs, fed by an inclined conveyor, at a mine siteEquipmentOre sortingProcessing · SortingHistory of miningDiamonds and deep gold: Kimberley and the Rand1867-1946Lessons from historyResource nationalism: what the record shows1623-2025The world runs on rockThe BatteryInside a lithium-ion cell

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

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).