The Botswana government says the value of rough diamonds supplied to local cutting and polishing firms dropped by nearly half in 2015 due to subdued local production and reduced demand in the global market. Addressing parliament on the progress of local diamond beneficiation on Thursday, Minerals, Energy and Water Resources minister Kitso Mokaila said downstream industries of the diamond mining business, cutting and polishing firms had not been spared from the ripple effects of problems in the global commodity markets.
