The world's most spectacular known gem quality alluvial diamond deposits are found along the Namib Desert coast of Namibia.
The deposits range in age from contemporary to 40 million years. Since the initial discovery of diamonds in 1908, this regional composite placer deposit has yielded well over 100 million carats of gem quality stones.
Following the discovery of diamonds north of the Orange River mouth in 1928, the Mining Area 1 ore body was delineated. The area consists of raised beaches over a distance of approximately 100km north of Oranjemund, to Chameis Bay along the coastline.
After nearly a century of mining, the Namibian onshore deposits are dwindling.
For the last two decades, therefore, De Beers has increased geological research and prospecting in marine environments, which has led to a successful marine diamond mining operation.
Nearly half of Namibia's total annual production is now mined from the sea and this proportion is set to increase in the years ahead.
Find out more about Namdeb and its other operations >