The main factor determining the current state of the diamond market is the global financial crisis. The situation on the leading financial and stock exchanges is still fairly dramatic. The labour markets in the US, Europe and Japan are also not in the best shape. Under these circumstances the availability of credit for diamond market players has declined drastically.
Alexander Matveyev, Member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Northern Territories and Indigenous Minorities, Mining Engineer, Academician of the Russian Engineering Academy, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, worked as Chief of Industry Department of the Yakutsk Region Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Yakutia Planning Committee, Vice-President and First Vice-President of ALROSA.
Valery Vladimirovich Rudakov – chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC Polyus, chairman of the Committee for precious metals and precious stones of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. In 1999-2002 - Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation and head of the State Repository for Precious Metals.The country's biggest diamond mining company, Namdeb, is seeking a partner for the new Beachcomber Dredge and Floating Treatment Plant, the company said in a statement.
The plant is a combined production unit that removes over-burden and treats material in a synchronous operation, the company said.
“The envisaged capital investment required by selected partner is estimated at N$200 million. This excludes operational working capital estimated at N$5 million per month,” the company said. The estimated ore body comprises 618 000 carats, the company said.
“Namdeb seeks a partner that would take ownership of the system, build a new treatment plant upgrade the dredge and operate the system as a mine through selected portions of the Namdeb license area,” the company said.
The agreement with the partner would be over a 60-month period, Namdeb said. The project is part of programmes aimed at extending its life of mine.
Namdeb currently holds six mining licences from which diamonds are recovered. The Mining Area No.1, Bogenfels and Elizabeth Bay Mining Licences extend from the Orange River in the south to Lüderitz in the north, and approximately 5.5 kilometres off shore in the Atlantic Ocean to approximately 20 to 35 kilometres inland.
Douglas Bay Mining Licence extends from Lüderitz north to latitude 26 degrees south and from the high water mark of the Atlantic Ocean to about 15 kilometres inland. The Orange River Mining Licence extends along the Orange River for about 50 kilometres inland from the Mining Area No.1 boundary.
Atlantic 1 Mining Licence occupies a portion of the middle shelf of the South Atlantic Ocean, from the boundary of Mining Area No.1 to about 65 kilometres from the shore. The bulk of Namdeb's production comes from the Mining Area No.1 and Atlantic 1 licences.
In the latter area, De Beers Marine Namibia (DBMN) explores and recovers diamonds from beneath the sea off the Namibian coast. Auchas Mine on the north bank of the Orange River started operations in 1990 and Elizabeth Bay Mine, some 24 km south of Lüderitz, followed in 1991.
Beach and marine contractors mine the northern portion of the company's licence areas and the coastal waters to 5 km from shore.
Veronica Novoselova, Rough&Polished African bureau editor in Namibia
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