Synthetic Diamonds May Fill Expected Mined Diamond Shortfall

Mining Weekly reported that Vishal Mehta, CEO of IIa Technologies Pte Ltd., believes that synthetic diamonds may present a solution to the anticipated decline in mine diamond supply.
All in all, researchers see demand for synthetic diamonds doubling in the coming 10 years.
As quoted in the market news:

He notes that the global mined diamond industry employs more than ten-million people directly and indirectly. However, mining diamonds is more expensive, with mines literally having to dig deeper for the diamonds. This affects the whole industry – from the cutting and polishing to the retailing of natural diamonds.
Nevertheless, grown diamonds can also create a distinct employment roadmap for South Africa and, subsequently, impact positively on the local economy by creating high-value occupations and skills.
Mehta points out that the grown-diamond industry needs the same cutting and polishing skills currently available in the mined-diamond industry, along with next-generation skills of engineers and scientists.
Drawing data from last year’s statistics, Frost & Sullivan’s report indicates that the current scale of grown-diamond production is estimated to be about 360 000 ct. Production is estimated to reach almost two-million carats by 2018 and is expected to be more than 20-million carats by 2026.
The report also states that, in the next 30 years, grown diamonds will become a dominant player in high-technology applications and can prove to be a very significant source for the diamond jewellery industry.
Mehta says this will be an interesting move for the grown-diamond industry, as trends of accepting grown diamonds as a legitimate diamond product are emerging.

Click here to read the full Mining Weekly report.