The process of producing a diamond was cumbersome, and the screening process was complicated.
Li Du went into the workshop to have a look. The workers had a pair of sharp eyes. The raw stones selected for cutting and polishing into jewelry had to be free of cracks and impurities.
These workers were the backbone of a diamond mine. Every one of them was treated well, and they were respected and roped in by the mine owner.
In addition to these workers who selected the perfect raw stones, there were also some people responsible for selecting small diamonds. They could use the assistance of mechanical screening, but their status was lower than the former.
A large number of raw stones were continuously sent to the screening table. First, they were selected by hand, and the defective ones were sent to another table for another group of people to evaluate.
Li Du and the others were lucky enough to come across a large diamond that had just been produced.
This diamond was ten carats in size and was very big. Normally, there were very few chances to produce it.
"How much do you think it's worth?" asked the lion hunter, staring at the diamond with delight.
A ten-carat diamond was a real luxury, and it would belong to a star, a rich man, or a powerful politician.
"According to the current market, this raw stone is worth millions of dollars," Li Du knew how to answer. "But if we cooperate with Winston, its value can be doubled."
The Lion Hunter was a partner of Harry Winston, but it did not only work with the Winston Group.
Diamonds, a luxury good, must be competitive to sell for a good price.
Therefore, every time the lion hunter got a high-quality diamond, he would contact a number of luxury companies to inquire about it, and the highest bidder would get it.
Hearing his answer, the lion hunter laughed. "I don't care how you package it, I only care how much money it can make for me."
He was a veteran of the business world, very clever, and cleverly changed the subject Li Du had thrown out. Obviously, he would not make any promises to Winston.
For Africans, in the business world, they believe in this saying: there are no permanent enemies, no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Large diamonds are carefully packed in safes, and ordinary small raw stones are packaged separately. They will be folded in advance on a double layer of white paper.
After weighing a bag of raw stones, she will record the condition of the stones through a computer. This will be the identification of the raw stones, like the abalone brand of black gold abalone.
In the diamond trading industry, each bag of such raw stone would be called a 'lot' after it had been appraised. The unit would be a 'lot', so two bags would be two lots.
Each hand has a different weight, ranging from 20 carats to 100 carats is common.
Every week, Lion Hunter could ship about ten lots of diamonds around the world.
After each raw stone was bought, the jewelers would send it to Antwerp, Tel Aviv, or India, where it would be cut and polished into finished diamonds for the next step of processing.
The rest of the process was a business process, which Li Du did not need to understand. That was Cole's job.
The lion hunter had brought Li Du and the others to the mine today because it was Friday. Every Friday, his mine would send out goods.
In the afternoon, an armored armored truck arrived at the mine. The armored truck was specially used to transport the diamonds.
Lion Hunter opened the large armored car and showed it to Li Du. Inside the sturdy body of the car were iron cages. The cages were welded tightly and each contained a wrapped diamond.
Of course, these were industrial synthetic diamonds and crystal imitation diamonds. Real diamonds were mixed in, and only Lion Hunter and the picker knew which cage was the real one.
Lion Hunter got into the car and put the diamonds away. He waved and the convoy left.
Li Du saw the machine guns on the armored truck and asked, "Is it dangerous to transport? Why do you even need an army escort? "
Lion Hunter laughed and said, "Every year, in order to protect these diamonds, I kill at least a hundred people. Do you know how crazy some idiots are for diamonds?"
Li Du was secretly shocked. "God, that crazy?"
Lion Hunter nodded. "All the gangs in South Africa organize armed robberies for diamonds. There is no difference. There are also some desperate lunatics, gamblers, drug addicts, children who don't know their place, too many people are eyeing these things. "
"So, why do you think I said it costs so much to mine diamonds and send them to you? I'm not making excuses to raise the price, man, it's the truth. "
As the diamond convoy drove away, Li Du's visit was over.
During this visit, he learned about the process of diamond mining, saw the people of South Africa, and learned more about the difficulties of finding a diamond mine.
It was late, and they could not leave. They had to stay.
Lion Hunter took them to have a working meal. The working environment in the mine was difficult, but the dining environment was good. There were several large and small restaurants, and everyone lined up at the window to get food.
There were five dishes for dinner, almost all of which were solid dishes: fried meat, roast meat, roast chicken, fried fish, broth, and the staple foods were butter bread, cake, and so on.
The workers looked exhausted after a day's work. Each of them was given two cans of cold beer, and without saying a word, they opened the can and gulped it down.
Li Du and the others were also standing in line. When they saw Lion Hunter, the waiter gave them a different kind of beer. It was Budweiser Black Classic. The others had Budweiser Black Brew, which was more expensive than the former.
Seeing this, Li Du asked curiously, "Why do you, the boss, give us cheaper beer? Do you prefer the taste of Black Classic?"
Lion Hunter said lightly, "Who told you that Black Classic is cheaper than Black Brew?"
Li Du wondered and said, "Isn't that the case?"
Lion Hunter said, "If the Black Brew is expired and the Black Classic is freshly produced, which do you think it should be?"
Li Du did not speak. Lion Hunter was overbearing enough to buy expired beer to deal with the miners.
However, the miners did not care. Most of them did not even know that beer had a shelf life. They were illiterate and did not read what was printed on it.
After a day in the mine, Li Du and the others left by helicopter the next morning. They turned southeast and headed for the tribe of Lion Hunter, where Lion Hunter would continue to entertain them.
Lion Hunter was a Zulu, an important part of South African society. They were mainly distributed in the province of Natal, with a small population in eastern Lesotho and southeastern Swaziland.
This time, they were going to Natal, where Lion Hunter grew up and had deep feelings for the tribe. When important clients came to South Africa, he would take them with him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
