Comment by mlmonkey

13 hours ago

I heard once that even if DeBeers stopped all diamond mining activity, their existing stockpile would last for a 100 years or more.

That’s not even close to being true.

  • You both need to provide citations my dudes.

    • The first person hedged their statement with "I heard once" so it's likely true regardless of whether the rest is accurate.

      In a similar vein it has been said (by me, just now) that DeBeers is actually already out of diamonds and manufactures then de novo from the compressed ashes of orphans.

      6 replies →

    • AI coughed up a bunch of references that put their stockpile estimate at around a year. Might have been more at one time but nothing close to 100.

    • I'll provide a citation since I'm in this industry and watch it closely.

      De Beers currently has about 2 billion worth of diamond stock in its holds. This equates to about... 5-6 months of sales volume. It used to be worth more but lab-grown and other re-valuing initiatives have dropped the worth of their hoard.