country finsch diamond mine
___MASK17___ ( French : ) is a country in the northern half of North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean , covering , making it the world ' s second - largest country by total area and the fourth - largest country by land area . ___MASK17___ ' s border with the United States is the world ' s longest land border . The majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate , but southerly areas are warm in summer . ___MASK17___ is sparsely populated , the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains . About four - fifths of the country ' s population of 36 million people is urbanized and live near the southern border . Its capital is Ottawa , its largest city is Toronto ; other major urban areas include Montreal , Vancouver , Calgary , Edmonton , ___MASK88___ City , Winnipeg and Hamilton . Graphite , archaically referred to as plumbago , is a crystalline form of ___MASK43___ , a semimetal , a native element mineral , and one of the allotropes of ___MASK43___ . Graphite is the most stable form of ___MASK43___ under standard conditions . Therefore , it is used in thermochemistry as the standard state for defining the heat of formation of ___MASK43___ compounds . Diamond ( or ) is a metastable allotrope of ___MASK43___ , where the ___MASK43___ atoms are arranged in a variation of the face - centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice . Diamond is less stable than graphite , but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at standard conditions . Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities , most of which originate from the strong covalent bonding between its atoms . In particular , diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material . Those properties determine the major industrial application of diamond in cutting and polishing tools and the scientific applications in diamond knives and diamond anvil cells . ___MASK81___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK81___ ( RSA ), is the southernmost country in Africa . It is bounded on the south by of coastline of ___MASK47___ stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans , on the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia , Botswana and ___MASK8___ , and on the east and northeast by ___MASK65___ and ___MASK49___ , and surrounding the kingdom of Lesotho . ___MASK81___ is the 25th - largest country in the world by land area , and with close to 56 million people , is the world ' s 24th - most populous nation . It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere . It is the only country that borders both the ___MASK46___ and the Indian Ocean . About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub - Saharan African ancestry , divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages , nine of which have official status . The remaining population consists of Africa ' s largest communities of European ( white ), Asian ( Indian ), and multiracial ( coloured ) ancestry . The Finsch Mine is an underground diamond mine , located near Lime Acres , 160km northwest of Kimberley , it was one of seven operations managed by De Beers Consolidated Mines ( DBCM ) , formed in July 2004 . Currently , it is owned by Petra Diamonds Pty Ltd . The Finsch mine is a traditional diamantiferous kimberlite pipe , extending around 17 . 9ha . Reserves are sufficient for another 23 years . Underground development started in 1978 and the shaft was commissioned in 1982 . The De Beers Group of Companies has a leading role in the diamond exploration , diamond mining , diamond retail , diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors . The company is currently active in open - pit , large - scale alluvial , coastal and deep sea mining . The company operates in 28 countries and mining takes place in ___MASK32___ , ___MASK63___ , ___MASK81___ and ___MASK17___ . Until the start of the 21st century , De Beers effectively had total control over the diamond market as both a monopoly and monopsony of diamonds . Opposition has since dismantled the complete monopoly , though De Beers is still a large shareholder and currently sells approximately 35 % of the world  s rough diamond production through its Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales businesses . ___MASK32___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK32___ , is a landlocked country located in ___MASK47___ . The citizens refer to themselves as " Batswana " ( singular : " Motswana "). Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland , ___MASK32___ adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966 . Since then , it has maintained a strong tradition of stable representative democracy , with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections . ___MASK63___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK63___ ( German : ), is a country in ___MASK47___ whose western border is the ___MASK46___ . It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north , Botswana to the east and ___MASK81___ to the south and east . Although it does not border Zimbabwe , a part of less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River ( essentially a small bulge in Botswana to achieve a Botswana / Zambia micro - border ) separates the two countries . ___MASK63___ gained independence from ___MASK81___ on 21 March 1990 , following the Namibian War of Independence . Its capital and largest city is Windhoek , and it is a member state of the United Nations ( UN ), the Southern African Development Community ( SADC ), the African Union ( AU ), and the Commonwealth of Nations .