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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa(Cameroon News) – Diamond exploration company, Botswana Diamonds has flagged off its reconnaissance programme in Cameroon.

Diamond exploration and project development company Botswana Diamonds (BOD) recently began a reconnaissance exploration programme on its diamond exploration licence in eastern Cameroon, in April.

The company has 85% ownership of the license, while the rest of the 15% rests with local Cameroonian partners.

The exploration work programme, which is directed towards the region to the south of the Mobilong diamond field, will be undertaken across a time span of 60- to 90-days.

The licence area comprises of 8 087 km2. However, because it is located in a remote region a lot of data has not been obtained about the region. BOD’s mine is to the south and west of the Mobilong diamond discovery.

The exploration programme will comprise of geological mapping using traverses along cut lines on a suitably spaced grid, digging observation pits and accumulating geochemical and rock samples for more detailed analyses.

BOD technical director Andre Fourie says baselines have been already set up and cut lines are being worked out so as to enable adequate access to the area of interest.

He adds that the area is located within a dense tropical rainforest, which makes logistically difficult to access. The location has also made it difficult for extensive remote sensing techniques to be also employed to guide the exploration.

“It is back to basics concerning the exploration. We have to walk the ground, find rock outcrops and assess the age and origin to try to establish what we are dealing with,” says Fourie.

The concerned area is away from roads right inside a rainforest of Cameroon and to get there technicians and workers have to go through a rough road that was built by timber companies.

From the limited information secured so far, the company reports that it looks like the diamonds are hosted in a palaeo-conglomerate, from which they have been eroded in places, and sporadically seen in modern alluvial deposits.

If successful, a limited drilling, trenching and pitting operation will be deployed to define in a better manner the scope and depth of the potentially diamondiferous rock sequences.

“This is an early-stage, big-potential, high-risk project. The company’s team of Cameroonian geologists are accustomed to difficult rainforest conditions and will focus their efforts and expertise to rapidly evaluate the area of highest interest,” concludes BOD chairperson John Teeling.