The South African Sea Areas (SASA) operation was established in 2003 when we were granted Mining Licence 3.
ML3/2003, as it is called, covers a concession area of 8,000km2 along the West Coast of South Africa (click here for the map).
The SASA project yields 240,000 carats a year.
The De Beers Marine SA fleet undertakes sampling and mining in the 40km2 area covered by the SASA mine plan. The fleet consists of three ships:
Coral Sea (sampling vessel)
Douglas Bay (sampling vessel)
The AUV (underwater vessel)
Our environmental management programme for SASA is ISO14001 certified. We are upgrading the harbour facilities at Port Nolloth and establishing a waste management site.
We focus on recruiting historically disadvantaged South Africans and invest in community programmes to contribute to the area’s development.
Approximately 45% of project expenditure is awarded to black-owned companies.