"We see negotiations concluding in days and weeks, not months and years," Cook said after meeting Botswana's new President Duma Boko, according to a video clip shared by Botswana's Presidency.

De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, last year agreed a new diamond sales pact with Botswana, which would see the government's share of diamonds from the Debswana joint venture gradually increase to 50% over the next decade.

Debswana Diamond Company, equally owned by Botswana and De Beers, currently sells 75% of its output to De Beers.

Although Botswana's former president Mokgweetsi Masisi touted the merits of the deal, it has yet to be signed.

--Reuters--