Botswana’s largest diamond miner, Debswana, plans to raise $1bn on global capital markets to help fund an underground mining project at its Jwaneng mine, a senior official has said.

The firm, a 50-50 partnership between the government and mining multinational De Beers, says the economic life of its open pit operation will end in 2034. If converted into an underground mine, Jwaneng can be economically run to 2054, Reuters cited managing director Andrew Motsomi as telling a mining conference in Gaborone, the capital, on June 17.

Debswana is forging ahead with the expansion project despite a decline in the global diamond market. It reduced production in 2024 by 27% and announced last week it will further reduce it by 16% to 15mn carats in 2025.

The group is now working to acquire an international credit rating to enable it to access global capital markets, Motsomi said.

"With revenues declining, he added, the company is facing escalating capital requirements. Debswana expects an increase in capital expenditure from an average of BWP5bn ($373mn) per annum for the past five years to BWP8bn per annum over the next five-year period," he said.

The Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Joy Kenewendo has expressed hope that the global diamond sector will start recovering from 2026.

"Since January, we have begun to see positive signs in the market. While we are not yet where we want to be, the upward trend is encouraging and gives us hope for a more robust recovery in the latter half of the year," she is quoted as saying.

Debswana, founded in 1969, ranks among the leading diamond producers globally in terms of both value and volume. It runs four mines, Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa. The company’s headquarters is located in Gaborone.