Botswana Diamonds PLC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Botswana Stock Exchange, has secured four new prospecting licences in Botswana after an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exploration programme identified several promising sites for diamond and critical mineral discoveries.
The licences — PL298, PL303, PL304, and PL305 of 2025 — cover a combined 2,644 square kilometres across areas near Serowe, Lerala, the Kalahari, and south-west of Jwaneng, close to the South African border. The Jwaneng-area licence is of particular interest, with geological features strongly suggesting the presence of multiple kimberlites.
"This is an exciting development," said Chairman John Teeling. "Our AI model highlighted a number of previously unknown anomalies with kimberlite characteristics, especially in the Jwaneng vicinity, which scored highly across all variables."
The company says its AI model analysed vast datasets using factors such as mineral chemistry, proximity to geological structures, shallow Kalahari cover, and geophysical anomalies. This method makes Botswana Diamonds one of the first companies to deploy AI at this scale in the country’s exploration efforts.
In addition to diamond targets, the AI models identified 11 sites rich in copper, silver, cobalt, gold, nickel, zinc, and platinum group metals. Applications for those polymetallic licences have been provisionally accepted, with final confirmation expected soon.
Botswana Diamonds is now updating its exploration programme to prioritise the newly licensed ground near Jwaneng.