Nathaniel Parker Willis

De Beers Group is a British multinational diamond company that specialises in the mining, trading and marketing of diamonds. The company is active in open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial and coastal mining. It operates in 35 countries, with mining taking place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada. It also has an artisanal mining business, Gemfair, which operates in Sierra Leone. From its inception in 1888 until the start of the 21st century, De Beers controlled 80% to 85% of rough diamond distribution and was considered a monopoly.