2. (888) 983-9588
24/7 Wall St. has uncovered the 10 richest diamond mines in the world.
Even though the international diamond mining community remains
tight-lipped on its operations, we do know who the world’s largest
diamond miners are (De Beers, Alrosa, Rio Tinto, and BHP Billiton) as
well as the five most productive diamond mining countries (Russia,
Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Canada).
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3. These five countries alone make up more than three-quarters of the
world’s diamond production by weight. Clearly, only a select few hold
the reins of a massive diamond production.
Here are the ten most profitable diamond mines in the world for 2010
according to the carat quantity each mine was able to produce.
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4. 10 Kimberley
10
Carats: 100,000 (2010)
Location: South Africa
• South Africa’s Kimberley mine first went into production in 1871. The
original mine closed in 1914 and the underground mine closed in 1995.
• De Beers, the original owner, sold underground mining rights to Petra in
2007, and Petra produced about 100,000 carats from the mine in 2010.
• De Beers is re-treating the dumps on the surface and recovered 823,000
carats in 2010 from nearly 5.5 million tons of rock.
Source: http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/kimberly-diamond-mine-south-africa www.diamondenvy.com
5. 9 Letlhakane
9
Carats: 1.2 million (2010)
Location: Botswana
• The Letlhakane mine is a Debswana property, a 50-50 joint venture
between De Beers and the government of Botswana.
• It went into production in 1975. The open-pit mine processed 3.3 million
metric tons of rock in 2010 and produced 1.2 million carats.
• This is the deepest of the Debswana-owned mines and is located near
the Orapa mine.
Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/worlds-richest-diamond-mines-
7736f585e1e2.html www.diamondenvy.com
6. 8 Finsch
8
Carats: 1.3 million (2010)
Location: South Africa
• The Finsch open-pit mine in South Africa was once owned by De Beers,
but is now owned by independent and privately held Petra Diamonds.
• The mine began operations in 1978, is South Africa’s second-largest by
production and is estimated to have produced 1.3 million carats in 2010.
• Petra estimates 26.6 million carats remain to be produced.
Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/worlds-richest-diamond-mines-
7736f585e1e2.html www.diamondenvy.com
7. 7 Ekati
7
Carats: 3 million (2010)
Location: Canada
• The Ekati mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories is 80%-owned by
BHP Billiton.
• The open-pit mine began operations in 1998 and processed 4.93 million
metric tons of rock in 2010, yielding less than 1 carat/metric ton of
diamonds.
• The Ekati mine produces about 3% of the world’s annual volume of
diamonds by weight and 9% of value. BHP estimates that Ekati contains
about 0.3 carats/metric ton of rock. In 2010, Ekati produced 3 million carats.
Source: http://my.opera.com/JanetB/albums/showpic.dml?
album=1346491&picture=18214391 www.diamondenvy.com
8. 6 Venetia
6
Carats: 4.3 million (2010)
Location: South Africa
• South Africa’s Venetia mine is owned and operated by De Beers. The
open-pit mine began production in 1992 and now produces about 40%
of South African total diamond production.
• The mine processed more than 4 million metric tons of rock in 2010,
giving a yield of about 1.1 carats/metric ton. The Venetia mine produced
about 4.3 million carats in 2010.
Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/worlds-richest-diamond-mines-
7736f585e1e2.html www.diamondenvy.com
9. 5 Diavik
5
Carats: 6.5 million (2010)
Location: Canada
• The Diavik mine is located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Rio Tinto
owns 60% interest in Diavik and is the mine’s operator.
• The mine went into production in 2003 as an open-pit operation that
will be transitioned to a fully underground mine by next year.
• The kimberlite deposits are small, but produce high-grade gem quality
stones. The Diavik mine produced 6.5 million carats in 2010.
Source: http://ooogies.com/tag/diamond-mine/ www.diamondenvy.com
10. 4 Catoca
4
Carats: 7.5 million (2009)
Location: Angola
• The Catoca mine is located in Angola and is owned by a consortium that
includes Russia’s Alrosa, Brazil’s Odebrecht, Israel’s Daumonty and
Angola’s state-owned mining company.
• The mine went into production in 1997 and claims to be the world’s
fourth-largest kimberlite pipe, the geological formation from which most of
the world’s diamonds are mined.
• The mine is expected to produce 60 million carats over its lifetime, about
35% of which are gem quality. Production in 2009 totaled 7.5 million carats.
Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/worlds-richest-diamond-mines-
7736f585e1e2.html www.diamondenvy.com
11. 3 Orapa
3
Carats: 9.53 million (2010)
Location: Botswana
• Orapa is another Debswana-owned mine. The mine was opened in 1971
and is an open-pit mine from which nearly 13 million metric tons of rock
was processed in 2010, or about 1 metric ton for every 1.3 carats.
• The Orapa mine produced 9.53 million carats in 2010.
Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/worlds-richest-diamond-mines-
7736f585e1e2.html www.diamondenvy.com
12. 2 Argyle
2
Carats: 9.8 million (2010)
Location: Australia
• The Argyle mine is located in northwest Australia and is owned and
operated by Rio Tinto.
• The mine began production in 1985 and has produced more than 750
million carats through 2010.
• The mine is the world’s largest producer of pink diamonds, even though the
Argyle Pinks, as they are known, account for just 0.01% of production.
The Argyle mine produced 9.8 million carats in 2010.
Source: http://www.aecom.com/What+We+Do/Mining/_carousel/Argyle+Diamond+Mine,
+Western+Australia,+Australia
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13. 1 Jwaneng
1
Carats: 11.5 million (2009)
Location: Botswana
• Jwaneng is owned by Debswana, and the mine was opened in 1982. It
now produces 60% to 70% of Debswana’s total earnings.
• De Beers claims Jwaneng is the richest mine in the world. In 2009, the
mine treated 8.2 million metric tons of rock to produce 11.5 million
carats. That’s less than 1.5 carats per metric ton of rock.
Source: http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~glxtg/photos.html www.diamondenvy.com
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