The Botswana government and De Beers are close to signing a diamond sales and marketing contract that would be valid for 10 years, the Mmegi.bw news website reports.

According to the Mmegi article, legal representatives for both parties are holding meetings in London to put the final touches on the deal, which is expected to be signed when Philippe Mellier steps into his new role as De Beers CEO.

Reports coming out of the diamond deal negotiations indicate that the Diamond Trading Company Botswana will relocate all diamond aggregation activities to Gaborone and the Botswana government will obtain a window that allows it to market the country's diamonds independently. That window is expected to start at 10% and increase to 20% by the time the 10-year deal expires.

Neither De Beers Botswana nor the government would comment on the negotiations.