Debswana Jwaneng Cut 8 Diamond Mine Expansion

Client: Debswana Diamond Company

Location: Botswana

Map showing the location of Debswana Jwaneng Cut 8 Diamond Mine Expansion

Executive Summary

The Jwaneng open pit diamond mine was the largest by value in the world. Its expansion facilitated greater access to kimberlite ore. Fluor performed engineering, procurement and construction management services for associated relocation and rebuilding of the mine surface infrastructure and completed the project in September 2012.

The mine expansion enabled the removal of overburden to allow the mine to access 91 million tonnes of ore expected to yield around 102 million carats of diamonds and extending the life of the mine.

As part of the project, Fluor, Debswana and its contractors undertook numerous sustainability initiatives that have directly benefitted the town of Jwaneng and its surrounding communities.

In collaboration with Debswana Mining Company, we completed the project in Africa, achieving significant performance milestones with minimum impact on operations and posting more than five million safe work hours without a lost-time incident.

Client's Challenge

The Jwaneng mine is 160 km southwest of the Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. “Cut 8” is a reference to the eighth expansion of the mine to enable access to more diamonds embedded in the kimberlite ore. Kimberlite is found in volcanic magma formed before the age of dinosaurs. It solidified, and along with gases and minerals, including diamonds, exploded to the earth's surface.

Debswana Diamond Company is a joint venture of the De Beers diamond company and the Government of Botswana. Since discovery of the kimberlite in Botswana around 1970, Debswana has become the largest non-government employer in the country. Botswana's economy, once based on agriculture, later had one of the highest growth rates in the world. The Cut 8 project alone would employ 2,400 Botswana citizens.

Fluor's Solution

Our responsibilities began with a feasibility study and grew to include responsibility for relocating and rebuilding portions of the mine infrastructure affected by the pit expansion. The scope comprised earthworks, civil construction, pilings, structural steel erection and electrical installation.

Approximately 2,000 Botswana citizens worked on the Cut 8 project, and our staff of 90 consisted of 85 locals and only five expatriates. Our office in Johannesburg, South Africa, which had been there 50 years, also supported the effort. To facilitate development of all projects in the region, Fluor also registered an office in Botswana.

Fluor and the client sponsored many safety programs over the course of the project and focused on safe behavior. The emphasis on safety carried over into the community.

We continue to support Debswana and subsequently undertook a pre-feasibility study for a new treatment plant at Letlhakane Diamond Mine, north of Botswana's capital, Gaborone.

Conclusion

Debswana is one of the world's largest producers of diamonds, and Jwaneng was expected to retain its place as the world's richest diamond mine. At project completion, production was 12.5 to 15 million carats per year. Cut 8 was expected to produce 102 million carets. We have carried out work in the area for many years, and more mining projects are expected to come through the new Botswana office.

Fluor completed the Cut 8 project in September 2012. The milestone was celebrated during a project completion ceremony in Jwaneng. Executives and senior management from Debswana Diamond Company, Fluor and other construction contractors attended the celebration.