Diamonds in the Sky” Attendees Open First DTC Sight of 2012

The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) – the distribution arm of the De Beers Group – extended a unique opportunity to attendees at the Diamonds in the Sky fundraising event in Hong Kong in September 2011 to bid to open the first DTC Sight of 2012 and to be guests of De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer and DTC CEO Varda Shine, De Beers announced in a press release on its website.

Lalji Patel, Group Chairman of DTC Sightholder, Dharmanandan Diamonds, an Indian-based rough diamond manufacturer, was successful in his bid to open the Sight and receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the DTC. The monies from the Hong Kong event will support both the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) and the China Charity Federation (CCF).

Patel said, “The vision and values of both NGOs benefitting from the ‘Diamonds in the Sky’ auction fit perfectly with our own. Our Dharmanandan Charitable Trust acts as a catalyst and a caring hand for inclusive development and aligns with our mission of “Shaping a Better Tomorrow.”Our company has an integrated corporate social responsibility program both for the benefit of our employees as well as for the benefit of the communities in which we operate,” Patel continued.

Varda Shine, Board Member of DEF, commented that “we were extremely pleased that one of our Sightholders’ bids won. Our Sightholder community are global leaders in social investment, and Dharmanandan demonstrated its alignment with our own DTC beneficiation objectives in supporting empowerment and development opportunities for youth around the globe.”