GEOSCIENCE AFRICA from the technical side

摘要

De Beers was very well represented at the Geoscience Africa conference that was held at the University of the Witwatersrand between 12 and 16 July 2004. Apart from being one of the sponsors of this conference, we also had a stand in the exhibitor's area and several geologists from across De Beers attended. Over 600 delegates were present at the conference, a significant number being international visitors. The conference was partially hosted by the Geological Society of South Africa, which uses the forum to run its AGM as well as to present the various annual awards. This year the most prestigious award of the Society, the Draper Medal, was awarded to Barry Hawthorne on the strength of a proposal initiated by Mike de Wit. All but our youngest geologists will recall Barry's years in De Beers and Anglo American, and the championship role he took in promoting kimberlite and diamond geology. One full session was devoted to kimberlites and diamonds, and this proved popular. Several research presentations were given at the conference by De Beers geologists. With talks covering topics ranging from diamondiferous gravels to the upper mantle to kimberlite emplacement, our colleagues made us proud with the quality of the presentations.