 |
|
|
| Diamond Industry |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
| Rough Diamond Producers |
|
| The trade in gem-grade rough diamonds is primarily controlled by the De Beers, Trans Hex, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and a handful of other companies which control the supply of diamonds on the wholesale market, thereby controlling and stabilizing prices. Unlike precious metals such as gold, silver or platinum, there is usually a substantial mark-up in the retail sale price of diamonds. There is a limited market for the resale of diamonds that are less than "investment grade." |
|
| The 'Diamond Pipeline' |
|
| Rough diamonds are sent directly from De Beers mining operations in Africa, or secondary mining producers in Canada and Russia to De Beers' Diamond Trading Company (DTC) in London, Gaborone, Kimberley and Windhoek, for sorting and resale. The rough stones are separated into 16,000 categories based on size, color and quality, then divided by human or automated sorters into individual lots called "boxes." The DTC is part of the DeBeers Group supply-chain known as the Central Selling Organization (CSO), which combines supplies of rough diamonds from multiple sources into one wholesale market. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
