"Junior Miners Must Back Luanda Accord"
October 21, 25
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is urging South Africa's junior diamond producers to back the Luanda Accord, aimed at the global promotion of natural diamonds.
Barend Petersen chairperson of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), representing the De Beers companies in South Africa, said all producers should contribute the 1 per cent of their annual rough sales.
"De Beers is not the industry. We are a significant player, but others must also step up," he told delegates at the Joburg Indaba, an annual conference for the mining industry in South Africa, last week.
De Beers dominates South African diamond production, but around a quarter of annual output is from several dozen smaller mining operators.
Many have strongly opposed the 1 per cent contribution, insisting it would be an unfair burden.
South Africa is a signatory to the landmark Luanda Accord, signed in June, along with Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Angola committed to investing $8m - equivalent to 1 per cent its rough diamond sales for the second half of the year - and De Beers said it would match that figure.
However, the Natural Diamond Council, which is coordinating the campaign, has yet to receive funds from any of the diamond-producing countries.
Pic shows signing of the Luanda Accord.