Michael Curtis

Head of Technology De Beers

Michael Curtis is the Head of De Beers Technology, leading the Upstream Technology Business of the De Beers Group, delivering diamond plant processing equipment, engineering services, projects, research and development and specialized products to the De Beers Group mining operations. 
With a 29-year career in De Beers, mostly on Namibian Southwest Coast Diamond Mining, both onshore and offshore, his focus has been on sustainably growing offshore diamond recovery through technology enhancements and new vessels. First with Debmarine Namibia as Strategic Projects Portfolio Manager from 2005 to 2012 and then for De Beers Marine in Cape Town from 2013 to 2022, he was intimately involved in Business Strategy, Projects, Offshore Engineering, and Research and Development, enabling the offshore operations to grow annual production 5 fold to 1.8 million carats.  As Project Director, he led the projects which conceptualized and built the world’s most advanced Diamond Exploration and Sampling Vessel, the SS Nujoma delivered in 2017 and the world’s largest, most sustainable and technically advanced diamond recovery vessel, the Benguela Gem delivered in 2022. Following a 2 year programme to deliver provenance solutions for De Beers diamonds in London he returned to Cape Town to his current role.