Diamond dollars rolling in again

NAMIBIA sold nearly N$3 billion worth of diamonds during the first eight months of 2010, about 22 per cent more than the same time last year.

Releasing the latest diamond figures yesterday, Bank Windhoek economist John Steytler said close to 1,1 million carats were mined from January to August this year, an increase of about 96 per cent over the 552 000 produced during the corresponding period in 2009.’Production during the first eight months was already 15,3 per cent more than the entire production of 2009,’ Steytler said.Diamond output increased on a monthly basis by 29,3 per cent in August, nearly 60 per cent than last August, he said.Total carats sold in August increased by 221 per cent month-on-month and by 77,8 per cent on an annual basis, while the value of total carats sold was up by 177 per cent month-on-month and 126 per cent year-on-year.Although the value of carats sold increased, carats sold during the first eight months of 2010 were 15 per cent less than last year, Steytler said.The latest statistics come as De Beers announced plans to abandon marine mining in South Africa to concentrate on mining diamonds off the Namibia coast.Barend Petersen, Chief Executive of De Beers SA, on Wednesday told Reuters that the group had consolidated all its marine diamond operations in Namibian waters, abandoning an effort off South Africa after obtaining low grade gems there. De Beers has long used sophisticated vessels to scoop up gems from the sea floor off Namibia and in 2006 launched a project worth nearly R1 billion to outfit another vessel and use the same techniques off the South African coast.”In the Namibian waters, it was an exceptional turnaround. So in terms of our marine business, it’s clearly more advantageous for us to mine the sea waters of Namibia than the South African sea waters,” said Petersen.In Namibia, production from marine mining has overtaken output from increasingly lower-grade land mines.Namdeb Managing Director Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi earlier this year said negotiations between Government and De Beers to restructure De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN) were in an advance stage.The new structure would give Government more than 50 per cent shares in DBMN. Indirectly, Government currently owns 30 per cent in DBMN through Namdeb, while De Beers owns the rest.Petersen said Wednesday that the diamond market was recovering after its setback during the global downturn.”Generally, the market is starting to improve. Of course, our biggest sales are in the US, but China and India are becoming important [markets],” he said.De Beers controls around 40 per cent of the rough diamond market worldwide.