Debmarine Namibia – Contacts – Services and Branches
Debmarine Namibia
DEBMARINE NAMIBIA IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST MARINE DIAMOND MINING COMPANY
Namibia has the richest known marine diamond deposits in the world and is among the top 10 producers of gem quality diamonds globally. The journey of offshore marine diamonds started billions of years ago when volcanic activity sent diamonds into the riverbed of the great Orange River, which over millions of years washed the diamonds into the Atlantic Ocean.
Debmarine Namibia is Namibia’s leading marine diamond mining company and is a recognised world leader in marine diamond exploration and mining technology.
Debmarine Namibia is a joint venture marine diamond prospecting and mining company, owned in equal shares by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers. Debmarine Namibia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Namdeb Holdings (Pty) Ltd.
Debmarine Namibia became operational in January 2002. Debmarine Namibia mines in the off-shore mining licence area off the southern coast of Namibia. The company operates five diamond mining vessels, namely Debmar Atlantic, Debmar Pacific, !Gariep, Grand Banks and Mafuta. Two mining technologies are deployed, the airlift-drill and the crawler mining technology. The mining vessels mine diamonds off the ocean floor using highly advanced drill technology and supported with sophisticated tracking, positioning and surveying equipment.
This national icon not only uses the most advanced marine diamond mining technology, but its people are shining stars in the Namibian mining industry with highly sought-after skills and specialised experience. Debmarine Namibia employs 800 human gems, of which about 90 are based at its head office in Windhoek and the rest are sea-going employees. The vessels operate on a twenty-eight days on, twenty-eight days off shift system.
Debmarine Namibia is ISO 14001, ISM and OHSAS 18001 certified, in line with its commitment to safety and environmental management. This commitment to sustainability has made Debmarine Namibia a shining example since it first started operating as a full Namibian company and will ensure that the company continues to unlock the sparkle in Atlantic 1 and make a meaningful contribution to the Namibian economy.
HISTORY
The journey of offshore marine diamonds started billions of years ago when volcanic activity sent diamonds into the riverbed of the great Orange River, which over millions of years washed the diamonds into the Atlantic Ocean.
Diamonds were discovered in Namibia in 1908, when railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a diamond that would change the course of history of Namibia. He handed it to his supervisor, August Stauch, and a diamond rush ensued in Kolmanskop, near Luderitz, resulting in the mining of millions of carats for colonial Germany until World War I in 1914. It is rumoured that those years the diamond deposits were so rich that Stauch and other miners could often simply pick up diamonds from the valley floors.
Innovative equipment was invented to treat the material – Plietz jigs, Schiechel pots, electric shovels, and the longest narrow gauge railway network in the world were introduced, all within the space of six years, to mine in this vast, challenging environment.
Work resumed after WWI with the various colonial mining companies having been combined into the Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa, later to be renamed CDM, and the prospector Reüning, discovering the classic diamondiferous raised beaches near Oranjemund, which have now been mined continuously for nearly 80 years and have yielded 65 million carats of high quality large gems over the years.
In the early 1990s CDM was transformed into the modern Namibian diamond mining company Namdeb Diamond Corporation (Pty) Ltd, and through progressive legislation its seven mineral licences covering 16 000 square kilometres have replaced the old grant area of the Sperrgebiet, the ‘Forbidden Area’.
In the 1960’s it was discovered that large amounts of diamonds were washed into the stormy Atlantic Ocean by the Orange River and offshore diamond miners pursued innovative methods of mining the unique deposits from the ferocious ocean. The most notable of these was a Texan oilman, Sammy Collins, who formed the Marine Diamond Corporation, which between 1961 and 1970, mined around one and a half million carats from under 20 metres of water.
Building on Collins’s legacy, marine mining of deposits as deep as 140m under the sea, has brought Namibia the distinction of being the leading marine mineral mining country. Over the years, the various areas combined have produced around 95 million carats, including around 12 million from deep water marine mining.
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OUR VALUES SHAPE THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS.
Mission, vision and values, culture and brand. Our values shape the way we do business. Mission, vision and values, culture and brand at Debmarine Namibia we are committed to living up to diamonds by making real and lasting contributions to society. This means driving returns on capital for our shareholders, operating sustainably, growing skills and talents of human gems and working with our stakeholders to transform the natural resources into shared national wealth.
- Mission:To mine marine diamonds sustainably.
- Vision:The global benchmark in marine mining – forever.
- Values:This is strengthened by our core values of teamwork, integrity, excellence and respect – underpinned by Zero Harm. See below:
Teamwork
Pull it together – United in purpose and action, we turn the diversity of our people, skills and experience into an unparalleled source of strength.
Integrity
Build Trust – We always listen first, then act with openness, honesty and integtity so that our relationships flourish.
Excellence
Be Passionate – We are exhilarated by the product we sell, the challanges we face and the opportunities we create.
Respect
Show We Care – The People whose lives we touch, their communities, nations and environment we share, all matter deeply to us. We always think through the consequenses of what we do so that our contribution to the world is real, lasting and makes us proud.
UNDERPINNED BY ZERO HARM
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Debmarine Namibia’s business objective is guided by a 5-year strategic plan (2015 – 2020) which is comprised of five (5) pillars namely: Safety, Employees, Deliver to Plan, Stakeholders and Future.
Safety
Zero Harm
Employees
Attraction, retention and development of the best employees
Deliver to plan
Increased resource knowledge and meet or exceed production targets sustainability
Stakeholders
Building healthy relationships and alliances
Future
Build sustainability and profitable growth
Contact Details
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONSTel: +264 61 297 8000
Fax: +264 61 297 8100
Email: DBMNCommunication@debeersgroup.com
Physical address:
Debmarine Namibia
10 Dr Frans Indongo Street,
6th Floor, Namdeb Centre
Windhoek, Namibia
http://debmarinenamibia.com/
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