GABORONE – Global diamond mining and trading concern De Beers says it is finalising a new diamond sales agreement that will govern the disposal of diamonds from its Namdeb Mine, which is a joint venture with the Namibian government.
In a briefing posted on its Report to Society 2015 bulletin released this week, De Beers said the new agreement would likely address some of the Namibian government demands regarding the sale or disposal of gems from Namdeb.
In June 2015, the Namibian government gave the company a new list of demands which included a request for 25% to 30% of all diamonds from Namdeb to be cut and polished in Namibia in order to stimulate the growth of the local diamond cutting and polishing businesses.
Namibia also demanded that the entire range of special stones (of all qualities, classes, sizes) should be made available for sale and manufacturing in Namibia without limits.
Namibia also indicated that it had already made consultations with Indian diamond traders in the gem-trading capital of Mumbai and Surat in a bid to find alternative gem markets outside the De Beers system. The company said the signing of the new sales agreement would happen within days.