Diamond exploration company Botswana Diamonds widened losses in the second half of 2011, reporting an operating loss of £176,000. In the six months to December 31st, pretax losses rose to £207,000, from a small profit for September to December a year earlier. That translated into a loss of 21p a share.
The company is undertaking a number of projects in Botswana, Cameroon and Zimbabwe. It said it would use new technology to identify undiscovered diamond kimberlites in the Orapa region of Botswana.
“If and when targets are identified, the partners will form a 50-50 joint venture to lodge licence applications and to undertake fieldwork,” said Botswana Diamonds chairman John Teeling. “The agreement is heads-up which means that from the identification of the targets, we will pay our share.”
Last month, the company raised £1.51 million to back its exploration activities through a share placing and direct subscription scheme.
The diamond firm is expected to report first results from Botswana in the third quarter. A second stage exploration programme is about to begin in Cameroon.
