Letlhakane Mine, Letlhakane, Central District, Botswanai
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Letlhakane Mine | Mine |
| Letlhakane | Village |
| Central District | District |
| Botswana | Country |
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Type:
Owned/operated by:
Debswana Diamond Company Ltd (50%) - a joint venture of De Beers Group of Companies
Mindat Locality ID:
14296
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:14296:5
GUID (UUID V4):
76677423-83c2-4c34-925a-e7b06b9f55cb
A diamond mine in a kimberlite pipe, owned by Debswana, a 50:50 joint venture of De Beers and the Botswanian government. The deposit was discovered in 1970 and production started in 1973. The mine works two pipes, of which the larger one was mined continuously since the mine was started. The smaller pipe was only worked for a short period of time, from June 1985 to May 1986. While the diamond grade of the pipe is considerably lower than that at Orapa, Letlhakane produces diamonds of higher quality. In 2004, it produced 1.03 million ct from 3.4 million tons of ore. About 40% of the stones are of gem-quality.
The pipe hosts a varied suite of mantle xenoliths, including peridotites, pyroxenites, eclogites, megacrysts and glimmerites.
Located 40 km southeast of the Orapa mine and about 190 km west of Francistown.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
7 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ 'Chrome-Spinel (of Dana)' |
| ⓘ Diamond Formula: C References: |
| ⓘ Diopside Formula: CaMgSi2O6 |
| ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside Formula: Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| ⓘ Enstatite Formula: Mg2Si2O6 |
| ⓘ Forsterite Formula: Mg2SiO4 |
| ⓘ 'Garnet Group' Formula: X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| ⓘ Ilmenite Formula: Fe2+TiO3 |
| ⓘ Phlogopite Formula: KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| ⓘ Spinel Formula: MgAl2O4 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Diamond | 1.CB.10a | C |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Spinel | 4.BB.05 | MgAl2O4 |
| ⓘ | Ilmenite | 4.CB.05 | Fe2+TiO3 |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| ⓘ | Forsterite | 9.AC.05 | Mg2SiO4 |
| ⓘ | Enstatite | 9.DA.05 | Mg2Si2O6 |
| ⓘ | Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | 9.DA.15 | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| ⓘ | 9.DA.15 | CaMgSi2O6 | |
| ⓘ | Phlogopite | 9.EC.20 | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Unclassified | |||
| ⓘ | 'Chrome-Spinel (of Dana)' | - | |
| ⓘ | 'Garnet Group' | - | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Diamond | C |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| O | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| O | ⓘ Enstatite | Mg2Si2O6 |
| O | ⓘ Forsterite | Mg2SiO4 |
| O | ⓘ Ilmenite | Fe2+TiO3 |
| O | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| O | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| O | ⓘ Garnet Group | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| Mg | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Mg | ⓘ Enstatite | Mg2Si2O6 |
| Mg | ⓘ Forsterite | Mg2SiO4 |
| Mg | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Mg | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Al | ⓘ Spinel | MgAl2O4 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| Si | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Si | ⓘ Enstatite | Mg2Si2O6 |
| Si | ⓘ Forsterite | Mg2SiO4 |
| Si | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Si | ⓘ Garnet Group | X3Z2(SiO4)3 |
| K | Potassium | |
| K | ⓘ Phlogopite | KMg3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| Ca | ⓘ Diopside | CaMgSi2O6 |
| Ti | Titanium | |
| Ti | ⓘ Ilmenite | Fe2+TiO3 |
| Cr | Chromium | |
| Cr | ⓘ Diopside var. Chromium-bearing Diopside | Ca(Mg,Cr)Si2O6 |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | ⓘ Ilmenite | Fe2+TiO3 |
Fossils
This region is too big or complex to display the fossil list, try looking at smaller subregions.Other Databases
| Wikipedia: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letlhakane_diamond_mine |
|---|---|
| Wikidata ID: | Q6533434 |
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References
Letlhakane Mine, Letlhakane, Central District, Botswana