This is South America’s largest diamond mine and the continent’s first kimberlite diamond operation, which was previously owned by De Beers, but never developed by it. Today, the opencast Braúna mine, which is projecting a production rate of 400 000 ct/y, is wholly owned by Lipari Mineração, a private Brazilian mining company. The round-the-clock, seven-days-a-week operation with a 2 000 tonne-a-day processing plant is situated in Nordestina, Bahia state, Brazil. It is being fed diamondiferous ore from the Braúna 3 kimberlite deposit, one of 21 kimberlite pipes Lipari is exploring and developing.