The Venetia Diamond Mine is

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

's largest producer of

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s, since 1995. It is situated close to the

n town of Alldays in the

Limpopo province Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

and is located within the 360 km² Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve. The open cast mine is one of De Beers’ six remaining diamond mines in South Africa and the only major diamond mine to be developed in the country during the past 25 years. As such, the mine represents one of De Beers’ single biggest investments in South Africa. The mine was opened in 1992 by

Harry Oppenheimer Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (28 October 1908 – 19 August 2000) was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South A ...

, a former De Beers chairman. In 2004 the mine had 955 employees and recovered 7,187,300 carats (1437.5 kg) of diamonds from 5,871,000

metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

.In 2021 the mine will cease its opencast operation and move towards underground mining extending the life of the mine by a further 21 years up to 2044. The Kolope River flows 8 km to the west of the mine. Surface water storage dams have been built on two of its tributaries.Hydrogeology of the Venetia Diamond Mine, South Africa
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References

External links

Sustaining Water Supplies While Responding to Operational Requirements at De Beers Venetia MineEffect of Small Catchment Dams on Downstream Vegetation of a Seasonal River in semi-arid African Savanna
{{coord, 22, 26, 02, S, 29, 18, 50, E, scale:100000, display=title Diamond mines in South Africa Surface mines in South Africa Geography of Limpopo Economy of Limpopo