Here is an insider view on the commercially important diamond deposits around the world. Many experts believe Botswana is the Kuwait of Africa, the rising super star, with no major tribal conflicts, relatively stable government except problems related to bushmen and their habitat. Canada is a newcomer with immense opportunities and difficulties due the landscape + the weather. Russia is trying to catch-up, but the politics and their way of doing business may have a lot of surprises for the diamond world. More to come.....
A J A (Bram) Janse (Archon Exploration Pty Ltd, Perth, Western Australia) writes:
The spatial distribution of the world’s major diamond mines is intimately related to the age of the earth’s crust. According to Clifford-Janse terminology, the three age-defined tectonic crustal elements are archons, protons, and tectons. At present, all diamond mines developed on kimberlite pipes are located within the boundaries of an archon, while those developed on lamproite pipes are located on a proton. Even though only one major diamond mine is underlain by lamproite pipe (the Argyle mine in Australia), several small diamond mines on lamproite pipes and other occurrences of diamond-bearing lamproites support this view. The figure also shows that major diamond mines largely cluster into three regions of the world: southern Africa, Siberia, and western Canada.
The tabulated data show Jwaneng in Botswana has the greatest current value and very high current production, followed by Udachnaya in Siberia, Orapa in Botswana, Ekati and Diavik in Canada, and Venetia in South Africa. The Argyle mine in Australia has a high production, but a low value. The most important producers for the next decade are likely to be Jwaneng, Orapa, Ventia, and Diavik, with Jubileynaya, Nyurba (Russia), Catoca (Angola), and Murowa (Zimbabwe) having slightly less importance. Argyle will continue to produce large quantities of near-gem material. The monetary values for the top six mines are in the same league as a major gold mine or a medium-sized oil field.
Date were also tabulated for seven advanced projects for which production is planned in the near future (although Jericho already commenced production in the first quarter of 2006, it is a small mine compared to Snap Lake). Victor is also small, but it has an extraordinary high value. Gahcho Kue is currently only a resource, not yet a proven reserve and only indicated reserves are available. Camafuca is an elongated pipe or the fusion of five pipes in a line underneath the bed of the Chicapa River, and it will be first operated by a five year dredging program.
The major mines of the future are Arkhangelskaya and Grib (both in Russia), but Grib’s opening is hampered by litigation. The Arkhangelskaya pipe will be the first of the Lomonosov cluster of five pipes to open in 2007.
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