SouthernEra Signs Zimbabwe Exploration Joint Venture
July 12, 05
Canadian diamond miner SouthernEra has signed a joint venture agreement with Rockover Resources Limited, a Zimbabwean company, to prospect for diamonds at the Tsholotsho Diamond Project in southwest
The Tsholotsho Diamond Project consists of 21 granted and a further 7 “under application” prospecting permits covering an area in excess of 14,000 sq km underlain by basement Archaean granite-gneiss of the Kalahari Craton. The Botswana/Zimbabwe border forms the western boundary of the permit area.
SouthernEra says this project area is considered highly prospective for primary diamondiferous kimberlite deposits and lies within what is known as the “Orapa Kimberlite Track”, which is a southwest–northeast trending kimberlite emplacement corridor extending from Botswana into Zimbabwe.
The first phase of exploration at the Tsholotsho Diamond Project is focused on locating the kimberlite sources to three geographically isolated stream sediment kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies, two of which contain microdiamonds.
Despite the promising data, Zimbabwe is expected to produce only 200,000 carats this year.