Tsodilo Resources Limited announced that its Botswana subsidiary, Bosoto (Pty) Ltd., has been granted prospecting license PL217/2016 in the Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) in Botswana. The licence has an initial effective date of January 1, 2017 and expires on December 31, 2019. Bosoto already holds the BK16 kimberlite project in the OKF.

In 2016, the OKF area produced 8.85 million carats. Of the 83 known kimberlite bodies in the OKF, eleven have been or are currently being mined, Tsodilo reported. These are AK01 with AK02 and AK07 (Orapa, Debswana), AK06 (Karowe, Lucara Diamond Corporation), BK01, BK09, BK12 and BK15 (Damtshaa, Debswana), DK01 and DK02 (Letlhakane, Debswana) and BK11 (Firestone Diamonds).

The license area covers 580 sq km and lies south of the Orapa and Damtshaa mines; west of the Letlhakane mine; approximately 20 km from the Company's diamondiferous BK16 kimberlite pipe; and, it is adjacent or proximate in all directions to Lucara’s Karowe mine.

There are several known kimberlite bodies immediately adjacent to the north and east of the license block and an exploration programme has been designed by Tsodilo to explore for yet to be discovered bodies. In addition to the kimberlite exploration, the Company will focus on the alluvial potential of this ground as much of it occurs downstream of the diamond mines at AK06 and BK11. A detailed geomorphological analysis will be conducted paying particular attention to the paleo-drainage development of the region since the Cretaceous when the OKF was emplaced. The Company believes that although denudation of the area has been limited, erosion has removed sufficient material from of the top of the kimberlites to release enough diamonds to form alluvial diamond placers close to the pipes.