Gem Diamonds has been granted a license to mine the Gope diamond deposit located in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve, diamond news outlets reported Tuesday.

Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick said that procuring the license – valid for 25 years – was "the first step toward the development of the Gope deposit into a viable producing mine."

Elphick added that the company hoped to take advantage of the rising rough diamond market and sought to begin production in 2013.

In October 2010, the Botswana website Mmegi.com reported that the Gope diamond deposit contains some 20.5 million carats of diamonds with a value of $3.3 billion. A fully operational mine at the site is projected to produce over 1 million carats per year.



According to Elphick, Gem Diamonds is committed to implementing sustainable environmental and community-related solutions to issues in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and the diamond company embraces the opportunity to ensure that mining at Gope benefits the wider community.