Introduction Following the discovery of diamonds to the north of the Orange River mouth in 1928, an ore body was delineated, which is today known as Mining Area 1. The area consists of raised beaches over a distance of approximately 100km north of Oranjemund, to Chameis Bay along the present day coastline. Bordered in the east by a geological boundary known as the "east cliff", this strip of land is nearly 3km wide in the south, narrowing to about 200m in the north. A typical beach consists of a layer of gravel between ancient high and low water marks, a storm beach or ridge and a marine platform or shelf containing gravel. read more...

Geology The unrivalled quality of Namibia's diamond assortment is the unique consequence of natural upgrading and concentrating processes. These processes were brought about by the sediment transfer from sources in the interior of read more... Alluvial diamond placer deposit The world's most spectacular known gem quality alluvial diamond placer deposit is located along the Namib Desert coast of south-western Africa. Since the initial discovery of diamonds here in 1908, read more... Fluvial Deposits The primary sources of diamonds for the Namibian placers were the abundant and fertile kimberlite pipes situated on the KaapVaal craton in the southern African hinterland. Other contributions have b read more... Offshore Marine Deposits The Namibian onshore deposits have now been almost continuously mined for nearly a century and, inevitably, diamond production from these placers is dwindling. The last two decades, therefore, have read more... Onshore Marine Deposits At the fluvial/marine interface, the Orange River mouth is characterised by a wave-dominated delta. Fluctuating sea levels over the last 40 million years have given rise to a number of palaeo-sh read more...