It was around the Ninth Century when European traders back from their visit to India first started talking about the sparkling white stone. As imagination soared, so did the marvel around diamonds and the desire to own them among queens and princesses in Europe and the world over. That gave birth to the world’s first diamond industry in India.
It is not that the mining companies themselves are not looking for more. In India itself, De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, and Rio Tinto have been exploring for years. De Beers is also said to be actively exploring Madhya Pradesh and parts of Andhra Pradesh for new finds. But exploration and mining of diamonds is considered the most painstaking and time consuming compared to other minerals.
(This story appears in the 09 October, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Hi Sajith,<br /> Thanks for the comment. <br /> Yes, you are right on both the counts. The difference between the volume and value of Rio Tinto's diamonds is indeed huge because its largest mine, Argyle in Australia, has low-grade diamonds. Secondly, we checked again with representatives of the diamond industry. In 2008, the Indian diamond industry accounted for 149 million carats, which makes is almost 92% of the global total of 162 million carats that were produced. <br /> <br /> Thanks again.<br /> <br /> Prince Mathews Thomas.
on Oct 10, 2009Some questions to Prince Mathews Thomas: 1. Rio Tinto supplies 39.2mn carats through its 3 mines but gets only $850mn in revenues, whereas the overall diamond industry sees sale of 162mn carats for $12.7bn...So Rio accounts for 24% of volumes but only 7% of value...too much of a variation, no? 2. You say India accounts for 11 out of 12 diamonds polished (92%), but next para you say "more than 80%" of the roughs are polished by Indians...a bit of a contradiction, unless the 'more than 80%' is taken to mean anything above 80%.
on Oct 5, 2009Bunder surely is the right place to mine diamonds. Rio Tinto has been banking on this mine since a long time and now its time to reap the harvest. Since the diamonds are becoming that much rarer, miners will have to source for newer mines to source them.
on Oct 1, 2009