De Beers has announced that it is conducting “groundbreaking research” that aims to deliver carbon-neutral mining at some of its mines “in as few as five years”, according to Gem Konnect.
According to the reports, De Beers’ scientists “are working in close collaboration with a team of internationally-renowned scientists to investigate the potential to store large volumes of carbon at its diamond mines through the mineralisation of kimberlite ‘tailings’, the material that remains after diamonds have been removed from the ore”.
De Beers Group’s Project Lead for the initiative, Dr Evelyn Mervine, said: “The research is in its early stages and it may take some time before it is economically or practically achievable to tap into this full storage potential. However, even just tapping into a small amount could greatly reduce the net emissions at many of our mine sites in the near future, and possibly lead to carbon-neutral mining at some sites within the next five to ten years”.
