De Beers is putting the final touches to a 10-year diamond sales deal with the government of Namibia, miningweekly.com reports.
The deal, which would be the longest to be signed by the sides, will address some of the Namibian government's demands regarding the sale and marketing of the country's diamonds mined by joint venture company Namdeb, according to a briefing posted on its Report to Society 2015 bulletin.
The deal was scheduled to be signed more than a year ago, but in June 2015, the Namibian government gave De Beers a new list of demands which included a request for 25% to 30% of all diamonds from Namdeb to be cut and polished in Namibia in order to boost the local diamond cutting and polishing businesses. De Beers reportedly wants the figure to be 15%.
Namibia also wants the entire range of special stones of all qualities, classes and sizes to be made available for sale and manufacturing in Namibia. The country also indicated that it had consulted with Indian diamond traders in Mumbai and Surat in a move to find alternative gem markets outside the De Beers system.