De Beers S.A.

De Beers S.A.

▪ South African company
      world's largest producer and distributor of diamonds. Headquarters are in Johannesburg, S.Af.

      Diamonds were first discovered in southern Africa in the mid-1860s on the farm of Nicolaas and Diederick de Beer, near what is now the city of Kimberley. Two diamond mines dug on the farm, the Kimberley and the De Beers, were at one time the world's most productive. They are no longer in operation.

      In 1871 the English entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes (Rhodes, Cecil) bought a claim to the De Beers mine, and with this as a financial base eventually bought up most of the diamond mines in southern Africa. In 1888 he incorporated De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. To keep prices high and demand steady, Rhodes also moved to take control of world diamond distribution. By the middle of the 1890s he had formed the Diamond Syndicate; this was the forerunner of the Central Selling Organization, a more modern group of financial and marketing organizations that came to control much of the world diamond trade. It is now known as the Diamond Trading Company (DTC).

      The discovery of large diamond mines near Pretoria and along the coast of German South West Africa (now Namibia) in 1902 and 1908, respectively, severely weakened De Beers' control of the diamond market. Ernest Oppenheimer (Oppenheimer, Sir Ernest), who had founded the Anglo-American Corporation in 1917, moved aggressively into the diamond industry in the 1920s, gaining control of the South West Africa mines and, in 1925, creating a new diamond syndicate. He bought a seat on De Beers' board in 1926 and became chairman three years later. From this position, Oppenheimer strengthened the diamond marketing monopoly begun by Rhodes.

      Through its selling division, headquartered in London, De Beers markets two-thirds of the global supply of diamonds, including those used for industrial applications. Its mining interests are managed by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. The company also has interests in explosive and chemical manufacturing; gold, coal, and copper mines; and synthetic diamonds.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Beers sponsor — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda En los eventos de Beers Blogs surge la figura del Beers Sponsor, una empresa o fundación que patrocina el evento sufragando las consumiciones durante el encuentro. Al ser en su mayoría cervezas adquiere el nombre de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Beers — can refer to either:* plural of Beer an alcoholic beverage. * Beers (Netherlands) a town in the Netherlands part of Cuijk mun. * De Beers a Johannesburg based diamond mining and trading corporation.Beers (surname)*Clifford Whittingham Beers 1876… …   Wikipedia

  • Beers \x26 Blogs — Beers Blogs Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Beers Blogs es el término que se usa para determinar un encuentro en el mundo real (F2F) de autores y participantes en weblogs. Se trata de reuniones informales que sirven para poder conocer cara a cara a …   Wikipedia Español

  • Beers (Netherlands) — Beers is a village in the Dutch municipality of Cuijk. It is located about 4 km west of Cuijk. Beers has a population of about 1780: 1340 in the village itself, and 440 in the surrounding countryside, including the hamlets De Plaats and… …   Wikipedia

  • Beers — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Clifford Beers (1876–1943), Begründer der amerikanischen Psychiatriereform Bewegung Jan Van Beers (Dichter) (1821–1888), belgischer Dichter Jan Van Beers (Maler) (1852–1927), belgischer Maler Siehe auch:… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Beers Five Hostel — (Рио де Жанейро,Бразилия) Категория отеля: Адрес: Rua do Triunfo 26 , Санта Терез …   Каталог отелей

  • Beers Timber & Building Supplies — Limited is one of several independent Builders Merchant based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1916 [ [http://www.car100.co.uk/totota.html Totota ] ] [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1 100889431.html West Wirral is frayed at the edges… …   Wikipedia

  • Beers — Beers, Jan van, fläm. Dichter, geb. 22. Febr. 1821 in Antwerpen, gest. daselbst 14. Nov. 1888 als Professor des königlichen Athenäums. Seine vorzüglichsten Dichtungen, voll Gefühl und Phantasie, in melodiöser Sprache verfaßt, sind:… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Beers (Brabant-Septentrional) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Beers. Beers Géolocalisation sur la carte : Pays Bas …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Beers of the world — What follows is a list of beers of the world by the country within which they originate, and the beer drinking and brewing practices within those countries:AfricaEgyptThe leading local brand is called Stella (not to be confused with the Belgian… …   Wikipedia

  • Beers, Steers, and Queers — Infobox Album | Name = Beers, Steers + Queers Type = Album Artist = Revolting Cocks Released = 1990 Recorded = ? Genre = Industrial Metal Length = 56:40 Label = Wax Trax! Producer = Al Jourgensen Reviews = *ARTISTdirect Rating|4|5… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”