One of the leaders of the world diamond industry predicted that diamond production on the planet will reach a peak in just three years, reports Israelidiamond.co.il with reference to Mining.com. In an interview with German journalists, De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier said that the so-called "peak of diamond mining" - the moment when 50% of all diamonds in the world will be mined - will be passed in 2017.
In recent years, the term "peak" has been used mainly to indicate the end of oil production - a resource that provides technogenic civilization to a greater extent than any other. The term, which became popular after the release in 2004 of the documentary "The End of Suburbia" ("The End of Suburbia"), went into everyday speech. At first it was used in application to oil, and then to other rapidly depleting vital resources - such as drinking water.
According to the theory of "peak", the extraction of all resources that are not renewable within human life occurs according to a Gaussian curve: first a little is produced, but with the advent of new, more efficient technologies, the production rate rapidly increases. However, there comes a time when the easily extracted resource begins to dry out, and there remain reserves, which are harder and more expensive to extract. After that, the rates of production stabilize - this is called the "peak" - and, finally, begin to decline steadily.