Damtshaa diamond mine
The Damtshaa diamond mine is in Botswana’s Central District, about 220 kilometers west of Francistown. The name Damtshaa means "water for a tortoise." It is owned by Debswana, a partnership between De Beers, Aquarius Global Resources, and the government of Botswana. The mine opened on October 25, 2003 and is the newest of Debswana’s four mines.
Damtshaa is an open-pit mine built on four kimberlite pipes with different ore grades. It is planned to produce about 5 million carats of diamonds from 39 million tonnes of ore over roughly 31 years. In 2003, the mine produced 292,000 carats. The ore grade averages about 0.6 carats per tonne.
Ore from Damtshaa is processed at the processing plant at the nearby Orapa diamond mine, about 20 kilometers away. The Damtshaa operation is managed from Orapa and participates in Orapa’s and Letlhakane’s safety and environmental programs, and it is ISO 14001 certified. The mine employs around 180 people.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:20 (CET).