Namdeb pins hope for future in the sea

NAMIBIA’S biggest diamond producer Namdeb is gearing up to expand output of gems from the seabed, which this year will overtake production from increasingly lower-grade land mines, a top official said.

Marine-based output at Namdeb – a 50-50 joint venture of diamond giant De Beers and the Namibian government – was forecast to grow to about 920 000 carats in 2005, up 50 per cent over the past two years as the fleet of vessels expanded and efficiencies improved. That compared with expected land-based production of just under 800 000 carats this year, Otto Shikongo, Managing Director of De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN), told Reuters on Friday.Total Namdeb output this year is expected to fall slightly to just over 1,7 million carats from just over 1,8 million in 2004.”This year will be a milestone year in terms of the portion of production coming from the sea.For the first time we will see sea operations exceeding land operations in terms of production and that gap will start growing into the future,” Shikongo said.The diamonds found on the seabed off Namibia – the world’s sixth biggest diamond producer by value – were carried over millions of years from the rich South African diamond fields by the Orange River that also functions as a border between the two countries.Namdeb’s sea production, in which hi-tech vessels suck up gems off the sea floor, only started in the early 1990s, following extensive exploration and environmental research programmes, when it became apparent that mines on land originally discovered nearly a century ago were running out of high quality material.”There are still (land) resources left, although of low grade and the trick is really to be able to treat those low grades effectively,” he said.”We’re working to make sure we offset the decline in the land operations.”DBMN, 70 per cent owned by De Beers and 30 per cent by Namdeb, is contracted by Namdeb to do the sea-based diamond mining and now has five production vessels that operate around the clock.The firm is currently doing a feasibility study on adding a sixth vessel to the fleet, which if approved would start operations at the end of 2008 or early in 2009.”Once we get an additional mining vessel on top of the existing five vessels, production would go up on in the order of 250 000 to 300 000 carats,” Shikongo said.The additional mining vessel would deploy a remote-controlled crawler launched from the vessel to operate on the sea floor.That would make the second crawler in the fleet.The other four vessels use long solid steel pipes to lift gem-rich “diamondiferous” gravel material off the sea floor, around 120-130 metres below the surface.The two types of technologies are used on different types of seabed terrain.The additional mining vessel and upgrades on the existing production fleet would account for the bulk of N$3,2 billion due to be spent by partnerships of the government and De Beers on investments in Namibia over the next three years.De Beers is 45 per cent owned by mining group Anglo American plc .Due to the complexity of finding diamonds on the seabed, DBMN spends nearly a fifth of its total costs on resource development, Shikongo said.Diamonds are key to Namibia’s economy, accounting for 10 per cent of GDP and more than 30 percent of total exports.- Nampa-ReutersThat compared with expected land-based production of just under 800 000 carats this year, Otto Shikongo, Managing Director of De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN), told Reuters on Friday.Total Namdeb output this year is expected to fall slightly to just over 1,7 million carats from just over 1,8 million in 2004.”This year will be a milestone year in terms of the portion of production coming from the sea.For the first time we will see sea operations exceeding land operations in terms of production and that gap will start growing into the future,” Shikongo said.The diamonds found on the seabed off Namibia – the world’s sixth biggest diamond producer by value – were carried over millions of years from the rich South African diamond fields by the Orange River that also functions as a border between the two countries.Namdeb’s sea production, in which hi-tech vessels suck up gems off the sea floor, only started in the early 1990s, following extensive exploration and environmental research programmes, when it became apparent that mines on land originally discovered nearly a century ago were running out of high quality material.”There are still (land) resources left, although of low grade and the trick is really to be able to treat those low grades effectively,” he said.”We’re working to make sure we offset the decline in the land operations.”DBMN, 70 per cent owned by De Beers and 30 per cent by Namdeb, is contracted by Namdeb to do the sea-based diamond mining and now has five production vessels that operate around the clock.The firm is currently doing a feasibility study on adding a sixth vessel to the fleet, which if approved would start operations at the end of 2008 or early in 2009.”Once we get an additional mining vessel on top of the existing five vessels, production would go up on in the order of 250 000 to 300 000 carats,” Shikongo said.The additional mining vessel would deploy a remote-controlled crawler launched from the vessel to operate on the sea floor.That would make the second crawler in the fleet.The other four vessels use long solid steel pipes to lift gem-rich “diamondiferous” gravel material off the sea floor, around 120-130 metres below the surface.The two types of technologies are used on different types of seabed terrain.The additional mining vessel and upgrades on the existing production fleet would account for the bulk of N$3,2 billion due to be spent by partnerships of the government and De Beers on investments in Namibia over the next three years.De Beers is 45 per cent owned by mining group Anglo American plc .Due to the complexity of finding diamonds on the seabed, DBMN spends nearly a fifth of its total costs on resource development, Shikongo said.Diamonds are key to Namibia’s economy, accounting for 10 per cent of GDP and more than 30 percent of total exports.- Nampa-Reuters