“Unless major new discoveries are made in the coming years, supply can be expected to decline gradually from 2020,” De Beers said, forecasting rocky times ahead for the US$85 billion a year industry.

Existing mines in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia are becoming depleted and the need to dig deeper has made operations less profitable.

De Beers said exploration has now turned to Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Arctic Siberia and Canada.

via MalayMail