The world’s biggest and most valuable diamond mines have been mothballed since the start of the year when De Beers put its Botswana production on hold as sales of the precious stones slumped. The mines, source of half the group’s supply of rough diamonds and nearly a quarter of the world’s by value, sold no diamonds in November and very little in the subsequent two months. Global sales, which trade through auction houses and private placements rather than commodity markets, have fallen to a standstill.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 and is filed under Capital markets, Commodities. Tagged with De Beers. Edit this entry.