The 2020 Kimberley Diamond Symposium and Trade Show will take place in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, in early September, the South African Diamond Producers Organisation (Sadpo) has confirmed.

New technologies and geological interpretations have revived activity in mid-size and small-scale diamond mining in the Northern Cape and North West provinces, and technological advances are driving greater recoveries of large and exceptional diamonds in mines across Southern Africa and other parts of the world, and transforming the industry in its entirety, Sadpo says.

Technical presentations and panel sessions at the conference will focus on large-stone diamond populations and their origin, recovery and provenance (in the case of alluvial deposits), developments in local and international diamond exploration and mining, the unique alluvial diamond deposits of the Northern Cape (including the marine placers of the West Coast) and North West provinces.

The presentations and sessions will also look at new technological developments that are reshaping all facets of the diamond industry, synthetic or laboratory-grown diamonds, as well as the future of the international diamond industry.

There will also be sessions on new geological and technological applications enhancing delineation and exploitation of ultralow-grade alluvial deposits, back-to-basics geological modelling that has restated the origin and diamond resources of alluvial deposits in South Africa’s North West province.

A trade show will accompany the symposium at the same venue and provide delegates with a cross section of enhanced earthmoving equipment, new approaches in design of diamond processing plant and advanced recovery technologies, including single-particle sorting developments.

New entrants to the mining industry will be on hand to display their equipment ranges as well.