BOTSWANA DIAMONDS ADMITTED TO TRADING ON AIM

Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has been approved to trade its shares on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The Botswana-focused diamond miner emerged from the Lucara Diamonds' takeover of African Diamonds (AFD). Lucara only wanted the AK6 diamond project which resulted in a final deal stipulating that for every AFD share, shareholders received 0.8 of a Lucara share and one new BOD share, according to a company release.

BOD holds three exploration licences in Botswana: AK8, AK9 and BK5, which have known diamondiferous kimberlites. AK8 and AK9 are between Debswana's Orapa and Letlhakane mines and are less than 10 kilometers from the AK6 mine, which is expected to commence production in the fourth quarter of this year and ramp up to full production in early 2012. Botswana Diamonds' BK5 is 5 kilometers from Debswana's Damtshaa mine. The company's PL7/2004 is a prospecting licence in the east of the Orapa region.

"BOD holds good ground [in Botswana] where exploration and drilling has already discovered kimberlites containing diamonds. As we have held these licences for a considerable amount of time, we are exploring options such as bulk sampling AK8/AK9 and core drilling BK5. We see excellent potential, though early stage, in licence PL7/2004 in the east of the Orapa region. A sampling and drilling programme is planned for this year," says John Teeling, Chairman.

"The contacts and experience of the board will also be leveraged to examine opportunities in the emerging diamond markets of Zimbabwe and Cameroon," concludes Teeling, who also welcomed Andre Fourie as the company's new technical director who will manage the exploration programs. Fourie has 19 years of experience with Anglo American and De Beers.