(Bloomberg) -- De Beers may follow its resumption of exploration for diamonds in South Africa's Northern Cape by looking in the longer term at opportunities in countries like Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"I'm excited about what I'm seeing in Zimbabwe," said Phillip Barton, chief executive officer of De Beers' South African unit. "If we get licenses, we would have a further look."
For now, the company is keeping its focus on seeking deposits in South Africa after gaining 16 exploration licenses in Northern Cape province. Barton said it wants to extend searches to Free State, North West and Limpopo, where De Beers is working on the $2 billion Venetia project. The company will take a “long-term view” on countries such as Zimbabwe and Congo when the time is right, he said.
“We have Venetia mine that's literally 20 kilometers from the Zimbabwe border,” Barton said on the sidelines of South Africa's annual Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. "Why would it be just on the one side?”
In addition, De Beers would consider seeking exploration licenses in Congo if the legal situation improves, as well as adding another ship to its fleet of five looking for marine deposits off Namibia.
“The progress made in prospective countries like Zimbabwe and the DRC is encouraging,” Barton said in a separate statement. “Our focus in De Beers remains on those countries where we have well established operations -- South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Felix Njini in Nairobi at fnjini@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Tony Barrett
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