Namibia Looking For Shorter Deal Extension With De Beers – Report

(IDEX Online News) – Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy wants to extend the government’s sales and marketing agreement with De Beers, which expires at the end of this year, for four extra months, rather than six months as requested by De Beers.

The government and De Beers are equal partners in Namdeb, the national diamond mining company.

The government has held several sessions addressing the main issues in the agreement which provides for the sale and marketing of Namibian diamonds overseas, according to the informante.web.na site.

The sessions included presentations by the Diamond Manufacturers Association of Namibia, Laurelton-Reign Diamonds, the Namibian Diamond Commissioner, the government Diamond Evaluator, Namdeb, De Beers Marine, the Diamond Trading Company Namibia and Namcot Diamonds.

The government’s negotiators visited neighboring Botswana last month to meet industry stakeholders to discuss progress in the country’s diamond beneficiation.

De Beers last month requested that the government extend the current agreement for six months to June 2014.

However, the Mines and Energy Minister, Isak Katali, feels the six-month period is too long, and would rather see the current agreement extended only as far as April 30.

An announcement regarding the decision is expected to be published by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in due course.

There was no immediate comment from De Beers regarding the article.