Seven years after work commenced on the expansion of Debswana’s Jwaneng mine, the company has encountered new gem bearing kimberlite ores, acording to reports in the African media.

The reports quoted General Manager Albert Milton as saying that after moving about 344 of the estimated 500 tonnes of rock and soil that will have to be moved to enable access to the kimberlites, the company has now encountered diamond bearing ore.

The kimberlites are in an area known as Cut 8, which is believed to have resserves of about 110 million carats. It is understood that eventually, Cut 8 will become the mine’s main source of diamonds.

Milton told the media that the Company had already encountered ore in the South and should reach ore in the north within the next couple of weeks. “We will continue exposing limited amounts throughout 2016 and 2017, but by 2018 we will be fully in the ore,” Milton was reported to have said.

The expansion project at an estimated cost of US$ 2.2 billion is the largest single investment project in the country.

Last year, with mining continuing at the now greatly depleted Cut 7 area, the company’s output fromJwaneng, which accounts for nearly one third of De Beers’ total supply, saw output decline by 13% to 9.8 mn carats, the reports said.