Powering Sustainable
Extraction in Africa

Our Methods of Mining

We follow world mining standards based on the location of the mines which are Alluvial diamond mining, Pipe Mining and Open-pit Diamond Mining.

Alluvial diamond mining occurs in riverbeds and beaches, where thousands of years of erosion and natural forces such as wind, rain, and water currents wash diamonds from their primary deposits in kimberlite pipes to beaches and riverbeds. Miners build walls or divert rivers to expose the diamond-bearing dry river or ocean bed. While workers initially sifted through the sand at the original site, the process soon advanced, with sand being transported to a screening facility to be more efficiently processed.

As the global demand for diamonds increased, diamond miners developed modern day’s most common form of diamond mining: pipe mining. While alluvial mining requires waiting for diamonds to first rise up through kimberlite pipes and be washed away by erosion to settle on river or ocean beds, pipe mining allows diamond miners to strike closer to the source—the kimberlite pipes. Pipe mining has two forms: open-pit diamond mining and underground diamond mining.

Open-pit diamond mining is used closer to the earth’s surface, as miners remove the layers of sand and rock just above the kimberlite rocks. In contrast, underground mining requires the creation of two parallel and vertically connected tunnels where miners in the top tunnel blast the ore of the kimberlite pipes which falls and collects on the bottom tunnel.