Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority
Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority
SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS ON A CASE STUDY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAMIBIAN OFFSHORE DIAMOND MINING INDUSTRY Presentation Dr. Ian Corbett, Group Mineral Resources Manager of De Beers Placer Resources thanked Ms. Inge Zaamwani, Managing Director of NAMDEB Diamond Corporation of Namibia and a member of the Authority’s Legal and Technical Commission for initiating his presence at the workshop, and the International Seabed Authority for inviting him. He informed participants that in addition to this presentation, that is to provide an insight into the development of a now real and established offshore mining industry focused on diamonds, his second presentation would be on the steps that have been taken to minimize the impact of offshore diamond mining on the marine environment and the rich and viable fishery industry that it exists alongside this industry off the Southern coast of Africa. Dr. Corbett started his presentation that focused on the forty years of diamond mining off the Southern African coast of Namibia and possible applications from this experience to deep seabed massive sulphides and crusts deposit mining by pointing out that an earlier statement made by Mr. Julian Malnic about the way in which the mining industry has evolved and its outlook over the last few years in terms of the environment is also true for De Beers and the offshore diamond mining industry. He emphasized the statement’s significance in the case of De Beers, stating that for De Beers mitigating the environmental impacts from mining is placed first, and profitability is placed second. From a corporate point of view, Dr. Corbett said that it meant that the environmental impact of mining is minimized to acceptable levels that are established in consultation with stakeholders. Dr. Corbett said that his presentation would begin with a bit of background about the Namibian diamond industry, the origins of the diamond deposits, how they were formed and how the industry has developed during the past forty years. He informed participants that there are some fundamental differences in the operating environments of diamond deposits, and of seafloor sulphides and ferromanganese crusts deposits. He pointed out that the primary purpose INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 598
of De Beers and its associated companies is very clear and that is to recover diamonds. He also said that while his presentation would be based primarily on the approach of De Beers, it would focus on two companies; NAMDEB, a joint company between the Government of Namibia and De Beers, and De Beers Marine. Dr. Corbett said that diamonds were discovered in Namibia in 1908, in the deflation basin of the Namib Desert by a railway worker who was living near Luderitz. Dr. Corbett described the location as a very hostile, an aggressive windswept environment. He said that when the deposits were discovered, people were able to crawl across the desert floor and pick up diamonds, and that he had the opportunity to do that in the early morning sunlight. With the use of slides, Dr. Corbett showed the area and its proximity to the Orange River, Cape Town and Windhoek (Figure 1). He said that after the initial discovery, diamonds were then discovered in Clancy on the Buffels River, then in 1926 in Alexander Bay by Hans Merensky, and subsequently in 1928 to the north of the Orange River by Werner Beetz. Dr Corbett provided participants with information on how the offshore diamond deposits were formed. He said that kimberlites are present in the interior of southern Africa, in both South Africa and Botswana, but that the principle source for many of the diamonds that were delivered to the west coast are the kimberlites that were intruded between 120 and 80 million years ago. Following erosion in the interior of these kimberlite pipes, Dr. Corbett said that the diamonds were transported westward by the palaeo Orange River. He pointed out that this very large river system has been in existence for at least 65 to 80 million years. Subsequently, Dr. Corbett said that once the diamonds were introduced to the continental margin, on one of the highest energy coastlines in the world, Dr. Corbett said that they were reworked by long shore processes, predominantly north bound long shore transport and in the process, the diamonds were deposited in onshore beach complexes which extend over hundreds of kilometres. Dr. Corbett said that during regressions, of which there have been many since the Gondwana break-up and the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, the Orange River had been able to transport diamonds further west beyond the present day coastline right down on to the middle continental shelf of Namibia. He also said that in the process, the Orange River deposited a fan delta or a very large fan shaped body of extremely coarse clastic material containing diamonds. Dr. Corbett said that this fan shaped body of material was extensively INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 599
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SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS ON A CASE STUDY IN<br />
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAMIBIAN OFFSHORE DIAMOND MINING<br />
INDUSTRY<br />
Presentation<br />
Dr. Ian Corbett, Group Mineral Resources Manager of De Beers<br />
Placer Resources thanked Ms. Inge Zaamwani, Managing Director of<br />
NAMDEB Diamond Corporation of Namibia and a member of the<br />
<strong>Authority</strong>’s Legal and Technical Commission for initiating his presence at<br />
the workshop, and the <strong>International</strong> <strong>Seabed</strong> <strong>Authority</strong> for inviting him.<br />
He informed participants that in addition to this presentation, that is to<br />
provide an insight into the development of a now real and established<br />
offshore mining industry focused on diamonds, his second presentation<br />
would be on the steps that have been taken to minimize the impact of<br />
offshore diamond mining on the marine environment and the rich and<br />
viable fishery industry that it exists alongside this industry off the<br />
Southern coast of Africa.<br />
Dr. Corbett started his presentation that focused on the forty years<br />
of diamond mining off the Southern African coast of Namibia and possible<br />
applications from this experience to deep seabed massive sulphides and<br />
crusts deposit mining by pointing out that an earlier statement made by<br />
Mr. Julian Malnic about the way in which the mining industry has evolved<br />
and its outlook over the last few years in terms of the environment is also<br />
true for De Beers and the offshore diamond mining industry. He<br />
emphasized the statement’s significance in the case of De Beers, stating<br />
that for De Beers mitigating the environmental impacts from mining is<br />
placed first, and profitability is placed second. From a corporate point of<br />
view, Dr. Corbett said that it meant that the environmental impact of<br />
mining is minimized to acceptable levels that are established in<br />
consultation with stakeholders. Dr. Corbett said that his presentation<br />
would begin with a bit of background about the Namibian diamond<br />
industry, the origins of the diamond deposits, how they were formed and<br />
how the industry has developed during the past forty years. He informed<br />
participants that there are some fundamental differences in the operating<br />
environments of diamond deposits, and of seafloor sulphides and<br />
ferromanganese crusts deposits. He pointed out that the primary purpose<br />
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 598
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