08:13
Faizan
The Kimberley region in Western Australia extends from the Great Sandy Desert all the way north to the Timor Sea. It's an enormous area, covering 423517 km² (163,520.8 sq mi); if it were a country, this would make it the world's 60th largest, just smaller than Iraq but bigger than Paraguay, Japan or Zimbabwe.
It's a very hot place. Temperatures regularly peak at over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and the region is subject to monsoonal weather patterns that include regular cyclones.
Perhaps because of the extreme heat and remote location, few people live there. 40,000 or so all up, spread across the entire area, with occasional concentrations in small towns.
A significant number of these people are employed by the Argyle Diamond mine.
Situated in the far east of the region, close to the Northern Territory border, the Argyle Diamond mine is known as the world's most productive by volume. 35 million carats (7,000 kg) of diamonds are produced annually.
This ought to make it amongst the most productive mines by value as well, but comparatively few of the Argyle diamonds are gem quality, and most of them are small.
In another location, these factors may have combined to make mining untenable. But there's another unique aspect about Argyle that makes it a viable - and valuable - mine: the ore grade is unusually high. For every tonne of ore produced, about 3 carats of diamonds are realised. This compares with an industry average of anywhere between 0.5 to 3 carats per tonne of ore.
As well, of the diamonds that are gem quality, a surprising number fall into the "fancy" category. Not only does the Argyle mine produce green and blue diamonds, but it is the world's only reliable producer of pink diamonds, being responsible for 90% of global production.
The quality of the ore was doubtless one of the many factors taken into consideration when the ore-producing pipe was discovered after an extensive search, in 1979. Obviously, the economics worked. The mine began production in 1983, and has been active as an open-pit ever since.
Now, the pit is more than 600 metres deep. Manoeuvring down at the bottom is becoming difficult. Because of this, a second feasibility study was done to assess the potential for developing an underground mine beneath the pit.
The numbers worked again. That project has been given the go-ahead, and the underground mine is scheduled to be fully operational in 2013.
It's a very hot place. Temperatures regularly peak at over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and the region is subject to monsoonal weather patterns that include regular cyclones.
Perhaps because of the extreme heat and remote location, few people live there. 40,000 or so all up, spread across the entire area, with occasional concentrations in small towns.
A significant number of these people are employed by the Argyle Diamond mine.
Situated in the far east of the region, close to the Northern Territory border, the Argyle Diamond mine is known as the world's most productive by volume. 35 million carats (7,000 kg) of diamonds are produced annually.
This ought to make it amongst the most productive mines by value as well, but comparatively few of the Argyle diamonds are gem quality, and most of them are small.
In another location, these factors may have combined to make mining untenable. But there's another unique aspect about Argyle that makes it a viable - and valuable - mine: the ore grade is unusually high. For every tonne of ore produced, about 3 carats of diamonds are realised. This compares with an industry average of anywhere between 0.5 to 3 carats per tonne of ore.
As well, of the diamonds that are gem quality, a surprising number fall into the "fancy" category. Not only does the Argyle mine produce green and blue diamonds, but it is the world's only reliable producer of pink diamonds, being responsible for 90% of global production.
The quality of the ore was doubtless one of the many factors taken into consideration when the ore-producing pipe was discovered after an extensive search, in 1979. Obviously, the economics worked. The mine began production in 1983, and has been active as an open-pit ever since.
Now, the pit is more than 600 metres deep. Manoeuvring down at the bottom is becoming difficult. Because of this, a second feasibility study was done to assess the potential for developing an underground mine beneath the pit.
The numbers worked again. That project has been given the go-ahead, and the underground mine is scheduled to be fully operational in 2013.
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