Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Namdeb, De Beers’ 50:50 operation with the Namibian government, estimates that 95 per cent of its diamonds will in future come from the sea bed off Africa’s southwest coast and the marine gems are already the fetching the highest prices from all of its seven mines.
Five specially-adapted ships fitted with giant tractors and drills between them mine more than one million carats a year from rich alluvial deposits scattered out to sea by the mighty Orange River since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
