L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

tive scenario, the above goals will not be achieved, and the situation
will become aggravated in both the Russian and global diamond
mining industries near the year 2012 when an excess demand in the
global diamond/brilliant complex is forecast.
The main long-term goal is to discover new large primary deposits
of high-grade diamonds with the chief problem being low exploration
efficiency 26 .
In Namibia production has increased substantially over 2010.
Namdeb, the joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government,
doubled production of diamonds in the first six months of
2010 from a year earlier. A total of 795,000ct were recovered, compared
with 385,000ct in the half year to end-June 2009. Diamond
sales increased by 22% from N$1.51bn (US$209m) to N$1.8bn.
Profit after tax improved to N$259m, compared with an equivalent
loss of N$396m in 2009.
The operations, which include land and marine, generated
N$280m in cash, four times more than in 2009, with a net generation
of N$109m. At the land operations, 257,000ct were produced as
20.33Mt were stripped or treated, compared with just 7.85Mt during
the comparable period in 2009. Some 3,655m 2 were mined at the
marine operations, just over double the 2009 figure. 27
In 2010 (on July 16th), Zimbabwe finally obtained official authorization
from an international diamond trade watchdog to sell its
gems, blocked over violation of mining and marketing rules. World
Diamond Council unblocked its embargo on Zimbabwe diamonds at
a meeting in St Petersburg, Russia. The council, through its monitoring
arm, the Kimberley Process (KP), had embargoed diamonds
from Zimbabwe over alleged widespread looting and killings of illegal
miners by troops at government-controlled mines in the east of
the country.
The council’s decision to lift the embargo followed recommendations
by a Kimberley Process monitor in June 2010, certifying
that the country had addressed its concerns, and could resume diamond
trade. The country had reportedly stockpiled more than four
million carats of diamonds, worth more than US$2bn, since the embargo
was imposed. 28
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