Before the South African diamond discoveries, the world’s diamond supply was limited. More than 1,000 fortune seekers on Monday flocked to the village of KwaHlathi in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province in search of what they believed to be diamonds after the discovery of unidentified stones in the area. Within a decade after diamonds were found in South Africa, the world’s production of diamonds increased tenfold.
“We now look forward to continuing to work together with all our stakeholders for the advancement of South Africa, De Beers and the global diamond industry,” Cook enthused. The South African diamond rush changed two things: 1. “Our new home and a national centre for diamond beneficiation creates an opportunity to work even more closely with all the actors in the local industry helping to shape new opportunities through our collaborations. “We know from experience that this approach is effective and we’ve already started to make progress. “With the inauguration of our operation here, we aim to work with the government and with wider industry to encourage the growth of a South African diamond business hub that stimulates development of the local diamond sector, generating creativity and economic opportunity through sharing ideas and sharing expertise and bringing local skills to an international audience. The relocation of this capability supports the government’s strategy to consolidate the country’s mineral beneficiation sector. “It’s why we have established this new facility here at Sky Park. It has partnered with government and industry to support the emergence and growth of small South African-owned beneficiation companies. “All of this work will ensure that Venetia continues to be a leading diamond supplier through to the 2040s and potentially beyond,” Cook added.ĭe Beers sells more than 40% of its South African diamond production to customers who have set up cutting and polishing operations in this country and has a programme that promotes local jewellery design talent. We’re investing $2-billion in developing our Venetia operation. “Your diamond dream is our diamond dream and it is why we in De Beers are undertaking the single largest capital investment in South Africa’s diamond sector. It also means that De Beers must ensure that more citizens have the opportunity to add more value to their precious natural resource. In 1867, Jacob Erasmus Jacobs discovered a transparent rock on his father’s farm, which sparked a gold rush in South Africa. In practice, this means that De Beers must ensure that more citizens derive more value from their precious natural resource. The first diamond found in South Africa was an 83.5-carat stone named the Eureka Diamond, which was discovered by a 15-year-old boy working in the diamond fields. It’s filled with diamond experts, diamond technology and diamonds,” said Cook, who reaffirmed the belief of De Beers that the diamonds that the company discovers create enduring value for host countries.
The 6 747 m 2 Sky Park facility – which is part of the global sightholder network that sells rough diamonds for beneficiation purposes in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Canada – has two floors comprising sightholder offices, hand and machine sorting areas, a training academy and a diamond cleaning plant. These have employed 620 cutters and polishers since 2020. The provincial government has since requested all those involved to leave the site to allow authorities to conduct a proper inspection, amid fears the people digging at the site could potentially be spreading the coronavirus.“Enduring partnership is at the core of what diamonds symbolise and partnership will define our activities here at Sightholder Sales South Africa,” he enthused.Įarlier, Mining Weekly had accompanied Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Gauteng Economic Development MEC Tasneem Motara on their walk through the impressive new Sightholder Sales South Africa edifice to witness rough diamond sorting, which supports investment in local cutting and polishing factories. Some people have started selling the stones, with the starting price ranging from 100 rand ($7.29) to 300 rand. The coronavirus pandemic has made it worse. South Africa's economy has long suffered from extremely high levels of unemployment, trapping millions in poverty and contributing to stark inequalities that persist nearly three decades after the end of apartheid in 1994. The lack of an analysis of the stones has not deterred the fortune seekers as long lines of parked cars on both sides of the gravel road could be seen just a few metres from the open field, where the young, old, female and male dug through the soil with picks, shovels and forks to find riches. The mines department said on Monday it was sending a team comprising of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples and conduct an analysis.Ī formal technical report will be issued in due course, the department said.
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