The mineral Wealth gossip!

[Michael Alexander]

I thought this was interesting gossip..... I don't have the facts, people are just talking at the various braai;'s  I go to!

The mine originally stated three years back, that the deposits were running out (Land Based) and that by 2012 , the workforce would be in decline....

The recession rocks up.....  lot of the old driftwood takes packages and moves out.... Plants (Ptf) are closed etc....

Then we started to hear rumours of new deposits to be mined..... Where? I wondered to myself..... We all know about the Plant that is going to be built up on the Orange river at Sendelingsdrift..... ... We all know that the Pocket Beaches in Northern Areas is the cash cow currently.....

I then got to hear a tale, whereby DeBmarine , apparently have the mining concession to mine the waters up to the high water mark along this "mined" out coast of ours.... Ghosts in the night and around the fires reckon that the "water" area in the surf zone was handed/negotiated over to the mine and that technology had been advanced to mine this so called Surf Zone.... People started saying that this means that if the technology works..... then the entire coastline gets to be mined again, well the rich parts of it.... and certain pundits claim that the richest of the gems lie in this Zone..... I heard people saying that the lifespan of the mine will be pushed up until 2050...... 2050....WoW!

I also found out, that the old miners, way back, that built their mine dumps east to west and into the ocean all those years ago, were not crazy.... seems like this was done intentionally as the ocean eroded the dump, it would spread the overburden north along the beach, constructive wave engagement... and in turn they reckoned back then, that every 5 years,.... the beach would "move" further out into the ocean..... and viola! you would have new diamond beaches.....

Just my 2 cents from drinking whisky and braaing!

[SandyB]

A GOOD WHISKEY STORY ...   WITH MAYBE A GOOD LICK OF TRUTH IN IT ,,,  ONE NEVER KNOWS .. BUT YES 2050 .. WE WILL ALL BE PUSHING UP DAISIES  BY THEN ... UNLESS OF COURSE I JOIN THE   ( DAMMIT  WHERES THE VAMPIRE   SMILEY )  CLUB  ??? PAULA PLEASE HELP ..

[toonfandangl]

Is the diamond industry dying......................I don't think so I belive you will be there for a very long time




Who is De Beers?

De Beers is the oldest diamond mining company in the world. The vast majority of diamond jewellery originates with uncut stones that are either mined or marketed by De Beers. They can be found at http://www.adiamondisforever.com .

What makes Argyle Diamonds different from other diamonds?

Argyle diamonds are Australian diamonds. They come from the world's largest diamond producing mine. Argyle diamonds have two very unique and outstanding features: they are actually harder than other diamonds and have a tendency to fluoresce under ultra-violet light. Their hardness factor results from the unusual atomic structure of Argyle diamonds - their atoms are bonded together in a more complex arrangement than other diamonds. This structure is also one of the major reasons for the deep colours of the Argyle product mix, especially the champagne and pink colours.

This was in answer to a question by students 'Are Diamonds Rare'

By no means are industrial diamonds rare they are in a great abundance ..De Beers spends millions of dollars ,moving millions of tons of dirt to maybe recover 4 carts of gem quality diamonds . But high quality gem diamonds are very rare ..and when it comes to fancy coloured diamonds they are even more rare .It is not a scam . The only ignorance I see here is the uneducated opinions of your college professor's ..Furthermore ,no one ever seams to appreciate the industrial side of De Beers . The Advanced diamond products that save lives on a daily basics . The products they use in the medical industry or the contracting industry our government defence industry or even for the space shuttle to keep our people up there from getting burnt up on their return. You people need to wake up and face the truth about the diamond industry,. . De Beers has made all our lives easier , you are so deceived by the propaganda ,you are ignorant and uneducated of the reality .Next time you bag on De Beers take a good look into the advanced diamond products and see all the things you would not have on and everyday basics if it was not for them . Facts they have settled their problems with the US.

Have they

[Malcolm Bertoni]

De Beer/Argyle

Worked at Argyle in 1984 for a year when I got to Aus.  The mine was just starting then and they were mining the allial stuff and then went underground a few years later when they buil a huge process plant.
Bloody difficult country - hot, humid, isolated and far away from anywhere - almost as bad as Brisbane toonfandang :-).
John Mack was the plant sup while I was there. Argyle diamonds are about 90% industrial  - they have also done a very good job promoting the pink "champagne" diamonds.
Of interest, Western Australia is the only state where it is illegal to have uncut diamonds.  Their legislation is based on the SA model. About 15 years back the head of security was nailed for smuggling diamnds.

Not surprised to hear that De Beers Marine is considering mining the zone between the high and low water beach zone mark - the intertidal zone - as the land is moving west all the time.  In a few years they could be mining beaches that were 10 metres under water previously.  If they could get another 100 years lease they could be mining there forever, only about 10 km further to the west.
Now there's a thought. . . .

Malcolm