JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Namibian government and diamond miner De Beers on Tuesday announced the agreement, in principle, of the terms of a new ten-year sales agreement for the sorting, valuing and sales of all diamonds produced at the Namdeb and Debmarine operations, in Namibia.
Once finalised, the agreement would become the longest sales contract ever agreed between the two partners.
Under the terms of the deal, the Namibia Diamond Trading Company – a 50:50 joint venture between the Republic of Namibia and De Beers’ mining and sorting arm Diamond Trading Company – would continue to sort and value all of Namdeb Holdings’ production.
De Beers would, meanwhile, continue to support the domestic cutting and polishing industry in Namibia and would increase its commitment by making more diamonds available for manufacturing businesses operating in the country.
The agreement also provided for an independent sales outlet for the Namibian government for 15% of Namdeb Holdings’ yearly run-of-mine production over the duration of the sales agreement.
De Beers strategy executive head Bruce Cleaver, who led the De Beers negotiating team, said the longer, ten-year sales agreement demonstrated De Beers’ continued commitment to ensuring that diamonds from Namibia continue to play a key role in the socioeconomic development of the country.