Anglo platinum bags away 'Green Mining Awards'

Chosen for environmental, social responsibility

Post By : Diamond World News Service On 07 October 2006 12:00 AM
De Beers and the Botswana government are aiming to establish a new joint venture to sort and value rough diamonds locally, rather than in the Diamond Trading Company’s traditional facilities in London. According to an interview that Daniel Kali, managing director of De Beers Namibia, gave to the Windhoek newspaper New Era, the target date for DTC Botswana to begin operations is about three years off.%%Kali noted that the move is occasioned by the demand in Botswana and other southern African rough diamond producers to create a local diamond polishing and jewelry manufacturing industry, and by changes in the economics of the diamond industry that make it more cost-effective for the sorting and valuing to be done in the producing countries rather than in London. He said the skills of the workforce in Botswana will likely be improved by the change.%%Kali said it is most logical to move these DTC operations to Botswana, the world’s largest producer of diamonds by value (with a weight yield of more than 30 million carats a year), rather than in Namibia, which produces 1.9 million carats a year. Most diamonds in Botswana are produced at four major mines owned by Debswana, the 50-50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government.

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