The Orapa diamond mine is the world's largest diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

 mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

. The mine is located in Orapa

Orapa

Orapa is a town located in the Central District of Botswana. It is the site of the Orapa diamond mine, one of the largest diamond mines in the world, and is considered to be the diamond capital of the country...

, a town in the Boteti Sub-District of Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

 about 240 kilometres (149.1 mi) west of the city of Francistown

Francistown

Francistown or Nyangabgwe is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 85,363, and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone...

. Orapa ("resting place for lions") is owned by Debswana

Debswana

Debswana Diamond Company Ltd, or simply Debswana, is a giant mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of...

, a partnership

Partnership

A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...

 between the De Beers

De Beers

De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...

 company and the government of Botswana. It is the oldest of four mines operated by the company, having begun operations in July 1971.

Orapa is of open pit construction and is the largest diamond mine in the world by area. The mine is located on two kimberlite

Kimberlite

Kimberlite is a type of potassic volcanic rock best known for sometimes containing diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond in 1871 spawned a diamond rush, eventually creating the Big Hole....

 pipes

Volcanic pipe

Volcanic pipes are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of diatreme. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone of solidified magma , and are usually largely composed of one of two...

 that converge near the surface, covering 1.18 square kilometres at ground level. Orapa operates seven days per week, and produces 20 million tons per year of ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

 and an additional 40 million tons per year of waste rock. In 2003, the Orapa mine produced 16.3 million carats (3260 kg) of diamond. The recoverable ore grade at the mine is about 0.87 carats (174 mg) per ton. The mine was expanded in 1999, doubling its previous capacity. The processing plant at Orapa processes the ore produced at Orapa as well as two of Debswana's three other mines, the Letlhakane

Letlhakane diamond mine

The Letlhakane diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about west of the city of Francistown. Letlhakane, meaning "little reeds", is owned by Debswana, a partnership between the De Beers company and the government of Botswana. It is the second oldest of four mines operated by the...

 and Damtshaa diamond mine

Damtshaa diamond mine

The Damtshaa diamond mine is a diamond mine located in Botswana about west of the city of Francistown. Damtshaa, meaning "water for a tortoise", is owned by Debswana, a partnership between the De Beers company and the government of Botswana...

s.

Orapa and its sister mine Letlhakane employ over 3,100. Debswana also maintains a 100-bed hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

, pre-primary and primary schools for employees' children, and the Orapa game park. The mine maintains an ISO 14001 certificate for environmental compliance, and places some importance on water conservation

Water conservation

Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation.- Water conservation :Water conservation can be defined as:...

 and waste management

Waste management

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...

.