Diamond sector convenes in Windhoek

The global diamond industry faces an urgent need to determine ways in which it can turn beneficiary activities such as cutting and polishing into profit in the long run. Industry players from across the globe are currently in Windhoek for a two-day diamond industry conference, themed around making diamond beneficiation viable and sustainable. Speaking at the opening of the event yesterday morning, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy Obed Kandjoze cited worrying conditions in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, that include three of 13 Namibian beneficiation companies closing shop lately. “In fact, only four are currently in operation, while the others are in go-slow,” Kandjoze said, citing equally worrying trends in Botswana, South Africa, and further abroad, in India. “Relationships in this industry are symbiotic. What happens at one end, affects all others,” the minister said. Whereas in the past Namibia was faced with the dilemma of having to export the sought after raw diamonds, he said today the country had exceptionally skilled human resources while the current situation prohibits making the most of these new skills. A special case In speaking on the challenges facing diamond beneficiation in southern Africa, moderator Chaim Even Zohar, Partner at India-based Pharos Beam Consulting, said Namibia’s position in this regard was favoured among diamond producing companies. “Namibia is a special case. Things that may not be successful elsewhere, but can work here if you focus on beneficiation,” Zohar said. In the first instance, he said Namibia’s gem-quality diamonds remained more valuable than the global average, estimating that 98% of all polished stones (globally), measure below seven points. “Your profile is very exceptional, you can do things in cutting here that cannot be done anywhere else,” Zohar said. “Considering mining costs to revenue, Namibia is in a good space. For every 30 cents you spend, you get a dollar, which is good,” he added. Rather than the current industry slump resulting from supply and demand factors, Zohar argued, it was the ‘value-chain pipeline’ itself, that was responsible. “On a consumer demand level, things are not that bad. People are still falling in love, they’re still buying diamonds,” he said. Deadly influences Two factors which Zohar said had major influence over the industry, and needed to be addressed by participants at the two-day conference, were the emergence of synthetic diamonds, as well as recycled diamonds in the ‘natural’ pipeline. Synthetic diamonds are those produced via an artificial process, as opposed to the geological processes which take place to produce natural diamonds. Recycled diamonds on the other hand, are those which had a prior use, and have been re-entered into the diamond supply chain. Both these, he said, had been allowed to enter the pipeline undisclosed, decreasing the diamond content, which he said 25 years ago would have been on average 25% of a jewel’s make-up. In the case of synthetic diamonds, he acknowledged these as ‘real diamonds’ still, though added that the industry needed to deliberate on how to administer these. “Our big goal is to have them separated, so we will need to consider whether it will be the mid-stream that have to cut these, as they do at present, or whether there is need for an entirely new industry,” Zohar said. The conference, entitled ‘Omugongo, a cut above the rest’ concludes at the Safari Court and Conference Centre, today. Speakers to address the audience today include Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines and Mining Development Walter Chidakwa, the University of Namibia’s Professor Roman Grynberg and Nambia’s Diamond Commissioner Kennedy Hamutenya. DENVER ISAACS