Argye mine located in the Kimberley region in the far north east of Western Australia. Owned by Rio Tinto, this mine is the world's largest single producer of volume of diamonds. However, due to low proportion of gem quality diamonds it is not the value leader. It does produce 90-95% of the world's supply of pink diamonds.
Diavik is also owned by Rio Tinto, located in Canada it is a very large mine. It is located north of Yellowknife and south of the Artic Circle on an island. The island is connected by an ice road. It is also an important part of the regions economy employing more than 700 people and producing more than 8 million carats annually.
Ekati diamond mine is owned by BHP Billiton and located south of the artic circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The Ekati is Canada's first operational diamond mine. Diamonds mined here are sold under the Aurias trade name Authenticity is verified through Canada Mark service. CanadaMark service is also owned by BHP Billiton Diamonds, Inc.
Baken diamond mine is located along the lower Orange River in South Africa. It is owned and operated by Trans Hex. The average size stone for 2004 was 1.29 carats. In 2004, this mine produced a 78.9 carat D color flawless diamond that sold for more than 1.8 million dollars (US), as well as a 27.67 pink diamond that was sold for over 1 million US dollars.
Merlin is the second of only two diamond mines in Australia. No longer operating it was owned by Rio Tinto and sold to Striker Resources, who has explored the possibilities of reopening the mine.
Orapa is the world's largest diamond mine. It us located 240 Km west of Francistown. The mine is owned by ?Debswana? which is a partnership between DeBeers and the government of Botswana. This mine operates 7 days a week. It maintains pre primary and primary schools for its employee's children. There is also a 100 bed hospital and game park. This mine began production in 1971 and is the oldest mine owned by the Debswana Company.
The Premier mine located in Cullinan, South Africa produced the largest gem diamond ever in 1905. The Cullinan Diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats. This mine also produced the Golden Jubilee diamond which weighed 545.67 carats. This mine is owned by the De Beers Company and was renamed The Cullinan Diamond Mine in 2003 in celebration of its centennial.
The cutting process is obviously one of the most important steps in the journey of a diamond from a rough diamond to a polished and glittering one. Just as there are specific locations where diamond mines have been located, there are various centers across the world known for their diamond cutting expert resources. The factors that determine the manner in which these centers operate are varied and include customs, regulations, labor costs, prices and the proximity to diamond mines.
In fact most of these centers are created due to some specific environmental, governmental or economic situation. Each cutting center is known for its specialty and while one center may be popular for its expertise in churning out well chiseled small diamonds, the other might be known to be able to produce unique and irregular cuts.
Antwerp is probably the world's oldest cutting center and it was a key center for the European gem trade in the middle ages. It is very well known for its cutting of large diamond rough and a very important center in this industry today. About 80 percent of the world's diamonds pass through this center and some of the most important and prestigious De Beer sightholders are based in Antwerp.
Russia started its diamond cutting industry in a small manner. Small workshops were set up where the cutting work was completed. However, the discovery of the rich diamond deposits in Siberia turned the course of diamond cutting industry in Russia in 1955. The Russian cut diamonds soon began to be known for their precision and finesse. In 1990's De Beers made one of the Russian firms, it sightholder and today Russia cuts diamonds from its own mines and also those from De Beers.
Another center that emerged post the World War II was Tel Aviv. This was because most of the skilled diamond cutter Jews fled Holland and Belgium to settle in what we today know as Israel. While the country produced small cut diamonds initially, they soon became the top producers of large diamonds and fancy, unique cuts. Tel Aviv is probably the most technologically advanced diamond cutting center and exports around $4 billion worth of fancy diamonds. Most of these diamonds coming out of Israel are actually absorbed by the US market.
The diamond cutting industry in India prospered more when the Argyle diamond mines were found in Western Australia. These mines produced large amounts of small sized roughs that were suited to be cut as small diamonds. An expensive diamond cutting center would not at all be feasible for such work since the high labour cost would ultimately get passed on to the cost of making small diamonds and thus making them unaffordable and heavily priced. Therefore, India was a natural choice due to its cheap labor and large workforce. The main place where diamond cutting takes place in India are Maharashtra and Gujrat.These two places are the international trading center of India. Even though most of the diamonds that are cut in this center are below 3 pts, about 90% of the diamonds pass through this center by weight and 35% by wholesale value making it India's largest export in 2000. More than half a million people are employed in this industry in India.
New York is known for its special cuts, especially for large diamonds. The beauty of the cuts and the size almost equals that of Tel Aviv and Antwerp. Since the labor costs are high in New York, the cutting center confines its operations to large high quality extraordinary diamonds, some of which adorn the fingers, wrists, necks and ears of the wealthiest diamond lovers in the world.
Thailand is known for cutting fashion colored stones. China has received a large amount of government backing in this area and today it specializes in small well-cut rounds.
Canada with its new discoverd mines, is the most recent entrant in to this area. This has happened due to the discovery of Ekati diamond mines that are under development in the northern tundra. The government would like the locals to benefit from this find and therefore a certain amount of stock of roughs is being sold to the local diamond cutters.
The diamond industry is a dynamic one and the emergence of these diamond cutting centers is also a proof of the same. As diamond mines were discovered and developed and made professional, specific diamond cutting centers were identified based on their proximity, labor cost, specific expertise and skill. These are the very centers that have been mentioned above - some that became large renowned cutting centers after years of hard work and others that have windmills that would turn them into profitable centers in a matter of days.
Both Niteowl & Mithun Rao are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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