Marine diamond mining still a challenge

WITH diamonds on land depleting, De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN) has proven that diamond mining in the country could still flourish with a historical achievement of over one million carats mined last year.

The company managed to extract 1,018 million carats from the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia’s coast and this was the first time that this level of production was realised from that part of the sea. Although this milestone was achieved, marine diamond mining is said to be a big challenge which requires heavy capital investment and skills for positive results to be gained.Speaking at the De Beers Marine Namibia celebration dinner to mark the accomplishment, in Windhoek on Monday, DBMN Chairman Rob Smart said as Namdeb was dealing with its inevitable future, it was time for DBMN to position itself into the leadership role of carat production.Smart was, also quick to add that much still needed to be done in this mining field, and the country was cautioned to be realistic about expectations from marine mining.He added that the cost of mining at sea was very high and consumed a lot of diesel, which was very costly given the volatility of oil prices.Another problem was that the company was losing marine diamond mining experts to other parts of the world where they were offered better remuneration.”Much as we want to think we do – we actually know very little about the ocean floor.We know more about the surface of the moon than the ocean floor, therefore, we are really mining in unknown territory,” he said.DBMN operates five production vessels, four of which use drill-ship technology and while one uses crawler technology.According to Smart, recent estimates put the purchase of a new marine mining vessel at an astounding figure of approximately N$3 billion.Last year revenue from DBMN diamonds to the economy was over N$2,6 billion, with around N$260 million directly to the Government.Guest of honour at the event, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said the state had a duty to see that profit from its natural resources benefit all Namibians.Pohamba touched briefly on the new Namdeb sales agreement which paves way for 16 per cent of Namdeb diamonds to be sold to local cutting and polishing factories.He said although, they had been disgruntlements within the industry of 16 per cent being a small amount, the President said this was the way forward as 16 per cent was a step in the right direction towards value addition of Namibian gems.Although this milestone was achieved, marine diamond mining is said to be a big challenge which requires heavy capital investment and skills for positive results to be gained.Speaking at the De Beers Marine Namibia celebration dinner to mark the accomplishment, in Windhoek on Monday, DBMN Chairman Rob Smart said as Namdeb was dealing with its inevitable future, it was time for DBMN to position itself into the leadership role of carat production.Smart was, also quick to add that much still needed to be done in this mining field, and the country was cautioned to be realistic about expectations from marine mining.He added that the cost of mining at sea was very high and consumed a lot of diesel, which was very costly given the volatility of oil prices.Another problem was that the company was losing marine diamond mining experts to other parts of the world where they were offered better remuneration.”Much as we want to think we do – we actually know very little about the ocean floor.We know more about the surface of the moon than the ocean floor, therefore, we are really mining in unknown territory,” he said.DBMN operates five production vessels, four of which use drill-ship technology and while one uses crawler technology.According to Smart, recent estimates put the purchase of a new marine mining vessel at an astounding figure of approximately N$3 billion.Last year revenue from DBMN diamonds to the economy was over N$2,6 billion, with around N$260 million directly to the Government.Guest of honour at the event, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said the state had a duty to see that profit from its natural resources benefit all Namibians.Pohamba touched briefly on the new Namdeb sales agreement which paves way for 16 per cent of Namdeb diamonds to be sold to local cutting and polishing factories.He said although, they had been disgruntlements within the industry of 16 per cent being a small amount, the President said this was the way forward as 16 per cent was a step in the right direction towards value addition of Namibian gems.