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Biggest Diamond in More Than a Century Unearthed in Botswana
- lcswi 11y agoYay, this will bring so much wealth to the people of Botswana!
- jacquesm 11y agoRight you are... The people of Botswana don't even rate a mention in the article, they're likely not going to see a single dime of the proceeds which will be in the many tens of millions of US$.
- ThomPete 11y agoI think he was sarcastic :)
- jacquesm 11y agoI think I got that.
- jackgavigan 11y agoThe Botswana Government will get a 10% royalty.
- jacquesm 11y agoHow generous.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIts about what corporate taxes are many places. Why would it be different there?
- jacquesm 11y agoBecause it is value extracted, not value added, and because the receivers of the majority of that value are in a position to extract that value by virtue of having historically exploited Botswana. So the larger part of the value will be removed from the country rather than that it will become part of the local economy it will become part of our economy.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoThat could be, but for the jobs, transportation, development and taxes they pay, right? The benefit to Botswana is somewhat diminished by having the diamond shipped overseas. But lets be honest: there is no real industrial/commercial value to this diamond at all; it is simply a trophy.
- jacquesm 11y agoDiamond mining is highly mechanized. There definitely are local workers but fortunately it is no longer as labor intensive as it used to be (that's bad because fewer jobs, but it is also good because those jobs were super dangerous and very low pay anyway). Agreed that it is mostly a trophy.
- jackgavigan 11y agoCorporate taxes are separate. 10% is the royalty the Botswanan government charges for precious stones. Any taxes are on top of that.
- jws 11y agoSounds about right for mineral rights. Oil and gas leases for the US pay a 12.5% royalty.
- sjclemmy 11y agoThe BBC article about this, mentions that the diamond industry has transformed Botswana into a 'middle-income' country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34867929 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-34867929
- Hasknewbie 11y agoBotswana is an upper-middle-income economy with a freer press and lower corruption than a number of European countries. Their level of corruption is slightly worse than that of France, and way better than most South or East European country (source: https://www.transparency.org/country/#BWA https://www.transparency.org/country/#BWA ; http://www.heritage.org/index/country/botswana http://www.heritage.org/index/country/botswana). Also, they are one of the largest producers of rough diamonds in the world, so a single stone may be a big deal for the company extracting it, but it means hardly anything to the country. Africa has some insane level of corruption and poverty, but there are some exceptions (namely, Botswana and Mauritius).
- iLiveInAfrica 11y agothree African governments get together and discuss what they embezzled from different projects leader 1: see that bridge right there, I got 2 million in my pocket leader 2: see that road, I got 4 million in my pocket leader 3: with a smudge on his face, see that building? leader 1 & 2 look at him with amazement and go, "what building" & he goes, EXACTLY! & for the record I really live in Africa (Ethiopia)
- SideburnsOfDoom 11y agoSince the main difference between coal and diamonds is some expensive processing (currently it's usually done by natural processes but that detail can be changed) So diamonds might have a fair price of, to be generous, 1000 * times the cost of coal. So diamonds cost the ballpark of $50 per kilogram. Obviously they don't right now, but it gets you thinking about the intrinsic value of diamond and how that price might move in the future.
- _Codemonkeyism 11y agoI wonder about the intrinsic value of dollar notes.
- jacquesm 11y agoCaloric value of paper or textile?
- rralian 11y agoInteresting. Caloric value as the way to compare value of things rather than fiat money. That's how it used to work right? Maybe we fall back to that after society falls?
- masklinn 11y ago> That's how it used to work right? When?
- jacquesm 11y agohttp://insiderzim.com/biti-says-we-can-even-use-firewood-as-currency/ http://insiderzim.com/biti-says-we-can-even-use-firewood-as-... http://www.investmentpostcards.com/2008/04/02/currency-notes-as-firewood/ http://www.investmentpostcards.com/2008/04/02/currency-notes...
- parasubvert 11y ago
- marcusgarvey 11y agoWe have reached levels of unfathomable wealth. >Last week, Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau paid 48.6 million Swiss francs ($48.4 million) at Sotheby’s in Geneva for a 12.03-carat blue diamond, the most spent on a jewel at auction. A day earlier, he paid 28.7 million francs for a 16.08-carat pink diamond. Both purchases were for his 7 year-old daughter, his office said.
- rralian 11y agoI hope she gets to play with them.
- chii 11y agoi think this is meagre compared to the kings and monarchs of past ages (think egyptian pharos etc, or ancient emperors).
- Canada 11y agoThat's nothing. Another guy from Hong Kong is offering more than twice that to anyone who can convince his daughter to be with a man.
- wdmeldon 11y agoWhich, bigoted and misguided though it may be, offers a much better ROI than shiny rocks for a child.
- 13of40 11y agoSeems like the hip thing for a multi-billionaire to do would be to buy the whole stone and leave it uncut, just so they could have the largest diamond in the world.