Philippe Mellier
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The low oil price is expected to benefit the diamond business, De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier has told sightholders.
At a reception in Botswana to mark the first 12 months of sightholder sales in Gaborone, Mellier outlined how the downwardly trending oil price could potentially turbocharge the diamond markets of America – already the world’s biggest diamond jewellery stage – and India, where 2015 economic growth is now forecast to hit the 5.5% mark.
In addition, diamonds were poised to perform well in China, where emphasis on consumption was being intensified in a bid to rebalance the economy.
“All of this shows that there’s ample opportunity for the diamond industry,” added Mellier, who emphasised the importance of supply, finance and demand to ongoing diamond-industry success.
He sketched how De Beers was investing in sustained supply and detailed how Botswana’s Cut 8 project at Jwaneng would deliver 100-million extra carats and South Africa’s underground project at Venetia a further 80-million additional carats.
Later Canada’s big new Gahcho Kué project and Namibia’s Sendelingsdrif project would make their contributions.
More rigorous financial transparency had been introduced to prevent inventory being sold below true value under seasonal pressure and synthetic-detection technology was being developed to expose the passing off of synthetics as real diamonds.
“We must also be acutely aware of the increasing challenges to consumer confidence presented by differing grading standards at the various grading laboratories.
“This issue has captured a lot of attention in recent months, especially with consumers in the US, and we must all display the leadership required to reassure the public that they can rely on the integrity of the diamond industry,” Mellier exhorted.