Botswana Diamonds and ALROSA signed an agreement through local subsidiaries to explore for diamonds in Botswana. The agreement requires equal contributions from each party -- Botswana Diamonds' subsidiary Atlas Minerals Pvt. Ltd. and ALROSA's Sunland Holdings SA.

Additionally, this exploration venture will tap into technology that was developed by ALROSA and is available to Sunland to use in Botswana for the first time, according to the companies.

License applications for the Orapa region target area have been filed and the first ground survey has been obtained, enabling work to begin in the third quarter of 2013 with an initial project budget of $1 million, according to Botswana Diamonds.

John Teeling, the chairman of Botswana Diamonds, said, “We are delighted with this agreement. This is good news for Botswana Diamonds -- and for Botswana itself. We have already been working together for over 18 months on selecting the best ground in the Orapa and Gope areas of Botswana and we have multiple targets. More diamond deposits remain to be discovered in Botswana. The unique technologies being brought to bear on the Kalahari sands improves the chances of success.”