The opening of a $14 million cutting facility in the South African port city of East London has provided a welcome boost to the country’s beneficiation strategy, which aims to increase the amount of added value the state derives from its natural diamond resources.

Speaking at the opening of the newly built plant in East London’s Industrial Development Zone, South Africa’s mineral resources minister, Susan Shabangu, called on the South African mining industry to promote skills development initiatives that will enable the country to beneficiate more of its own minerals.

“If one looked at the top diamond technology countries, past and present, most of them had no history of diamond production. The technology that they developed was done so using South African diamonds. If we, as a country, wanted to be a global powerhouse in the diamond industry, we must develop a culture of technology innovation. And that cannot be done if plants like these fail to survive,” said Shabangu.

The new cutting plant is a joint venture involving the South African industrial group Matla Innovation and a Chinese gold company Gold Eastern. According to Matla Innovations CEO, Chia-Chao Wu, the plant will be staffed initially by diamond cutters from China, but they plan to transfer their knowledge to local inhabitants within two years.

The company, he said, plans to train between 150 and 200 local inhabitants a year as cutters and polishers. Up to 500 jobs could be created at the plant over the coming five years.

Credit is given to AWDC Antwerp by DiamondTopics.com