ETHICAL ORIGINS
FROM THE MINE TO DESIGN THE STORY OF A NAMIBIAN DIAMOND
After being transported to shore by helicopter from the Benguela Gem, the rough diamonds are sorted, valued, and sold through the Namibian Diamond Trading Center in down- town Windhoek. The diamonds are bathed in an acid bath to remove any remaining buildup, and weighed. Experts then sort the diamonds by weight and varying color grades and each diamond is valued. These lots are then distributed out to 11 sight holders each month, and sent to each of their required local manufacturing facilities. The revenue from these purchases is split 50/50 between De Beers and the Namibian government. NAMIBIAN DIAMOND TRADING CENTER (NDTC)
THE ORANGE RIVER
Serving as the border between South Africa and Namibia, the Orange River is the source of many of the diamonds at Korman. The Orange River also deposited millions of diamonds onto the ocean floor which is where Namibia mines approximately 70% of their diamonds.
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Commissioned in March 2022, this marine mining vessel is expected to mine over 600,000 gem quality diamonds along the coast. With its 28,000 ton anteater-like crawler, the vessel combs the ocean floor, sucking up the top layer in seconds. The material then travels through a buoyant tube into the sorting processor where any non-diamond remains are returned back into the ocean. From there, the remaining material goes into the “hands-off” zone, where the diamonds are centrifuged out of the material and ran through a fluorescent machine, completely without human help. With a designated 6,000 sq km of Namibian coast to mine at a rate of 15 sq km annually, the country produces top, gem quality diamonds ranging from 0.10cts to 100ct pieces of rough. THE BENGUELA GEM
14 KORMAN MAGAZINE
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