SPERRGEBIET

( (German: restricted area), ) also called Diamond Area 1, diamond-rich area in the southern Namib (desert), southwestern Namibia, to which access by unauthorized persons is rigidly prohibited. It lies along the Atlantic coast from Oranjemund and the Orange River north to about 45 miles (72 km) north of Lderitz (26 S latitude), encompassing an area approximately 60 miles (97 km) wide and 200 miles (322 km) long. The visual aspect of the Sperrgebiet is drab, characterized mainly by north-south sand dunes. Rich deposits of guano on offshore islands were exploited in the mid-19th century, and a few diamonds were found on some of these islands in 190506. Major discoveries of diamonds in 1908 on the mainland in the vicinity of the port of Lderitz led to the German colonial government's closing of the area to unauthorized persons later in the same year. In 1920 the assorted German-owned mining companies of northern Sperrgebiet (the Lderitz area) sold their interests to Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa, Ltd. (CDM; a subsidiary of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. of South Africa), which has held the monopoly of the mining rights in Sperrgebiet ever since. Today the mining operations in Sperrgebiet extend north from the CDM company town of Oranjemund (directly north of the Orange River mouth) for about 60 miles (97 km) along the coast. Giant earthmoving equipment is used to remove overlying sand to uncover diamond-bearing, alluvially deposited gravels, which often lie as far as 50 feet (15 m) below the surface. The Owambo (Ovambo) people of northern Namibia are the chief contract workers for the CDM. A remarkably high 95 percent of all diamonds recovered are of gem quality. Political instability in Namibia was a major factor in Sperrgebiet's overall production decline from more than 20 percent of the world's gem diamond production in 1977 to less than 5 percent in the mid-1980s. Gem diamonds continue to be mined in the coastal Namaqualand region of South Africa immediately south of the mouth of the Orange River.