Leighton Holdings (ASX:LEI) has won a mining service contract as part of a joint venture in Botswana. The 66 month contract is worth AUD$586 million and is at the richest diamond mine in Botswana. The Australian company is the world’s largest contract miner and holds 60% of the contract.
Its partners in the Joint Venture are Basil Read Mining and Bothakga Burrow. The contract was awarded to them by Debswana to conduct mine scheduling, drill and blasting, truck and shovel waste removal and limited ore mining at the Jwaneng diamond mine in Botswana.
Debswana is the world’s biggest diamond producer when seen by value. This was released in a statement by Leighton Holdings on Tuesday. The joint venture contract is the first mining project for Leighton in Africa.
Chief Executive Officer of Leighton Holdings, David Stewart said that it made strategic sense for the company to take its mining capability to resources markets like southern Africa. He said that they saw the region that included Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania and Mozambique, as offering a significant range of mining opportunities.