Botswana’s mining sector has taken another step in its diversification strategy away from diamond mining towards copper.
Botswana Minerals, formerly Botswana Diamonds, has been given the green light to start field work on two copper licences in Ngamiland, northwestern Botswana.
The projects are part of the company’s artificial intelligence-driven exploration strategy, reports Engineering News.
‘We continue to make progress towards defining drill sites. Analysis of historical core and the acquisition of further geological and geophysical information has focused attention on what we believe will be our strongest drilling targets,’ says Botswana Minerals chairperson John Teeling.
Following the environmental authorisation, the company is planning to carry out targeted soil sampling; integrate sampling results with the historical core, geochemical and geophysical information; and refine and rank the targets for drilling.
Listed on the London’s Alternative Investment Market, Botswana Minerals will finance the exploration from existing cash resources.
The company rebranded itself in February 2026, following a sustained downturn in the natural diamond sector, according to Mining.com.
Read more: SA joins diamond battle! – Govt backs natural gems in global fight vs fakes
Teeling said at the time that AI analysis of the company’s geographical database identified ‘strong copper prospectivity, a metal with a very robust future’.
Copper is one of the critical minerals used extensively in clean energy technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles.
BloombergNEF has reported that copper supply could reach a deficit of 44% of global demand by 2050, requiring an investment of US$332 billion in new mines.
3 November 2026
Image: Unsplash
