Sperrgebiet

Sperrgebiet, diamond-rich area in the southern Namib (desert), southwestern Namibia, to which access by unauthorized persons was rigidly prohibited from 1908 until the early 21st century. It lies along the Atlantic coast from Oranjemund and the Orange River north to about 45 miles (72 km) north of Lüderitz (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 1905–06. Major discoveries of diamonds in 1908 on the mainland in the vicinity of the port of Lüderitz 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 the northern Sperrgebiet (the Lüderitz area) sold their interests to Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa, Ltd. (a subsidiary of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., of South Africa), which held the monopoly of the mining rights in the Sperrgebiet until 1994, when it was reformed as Namdeb Diamond Corp. The company was an equal partnership between the Namibian government and De Beers.

Today the mining operations in the Sperrgebiet extend north from the Namdeb 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 Ovambo people of northern Namibia are the chief contract workers for Namdeb. A remarkably high percentage of all diamonds recovered are of gem quality. Political instability in Namibia (known as South West Africa prior to 1990) was a major factor in the 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. By the late 1990s its production accounted for about 6 percent of the world total. In the early 21st century, offshore diamond mining increased amid reports that the country’s inland deposits might be exhausted by 2020.

Aided by strict visitation rules, the Sperrgebiet remained relatively pristine, known for its unique flora. In 1994 De Beers agreed to eventually transfer control of more than 60 percent of the land to Namibia. In 2004 the country’s government announced plans to establish the area as a national park, hoping to increase tourism. The Sperrgebiet National Park, covering some 10,000 square miles (26,000 square km), was gazetted in December 2008 and was formally opened in February 2009.