Company Overview

ABOUT ELEMENT SIX

Founded in 1946, Element Six has developed to become a global leader in synthetic diamond and supermaterials manufacturing. Find out all about our story below.

WHO WE ARE

Element Six is a global leader in the design, development and production of synthetic diamond and tungsten carbide supermaterials. Part of the De Beers Group, we employ over 1,900 people. Our primary manufacturing sites are located in the UK, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, and the US.

Our history

Since 1946, our focus has been on developing the diamond synthesis process to enable innovative synthetic diamond and tungsten carbide solutions. As well as being the planet’s hardest material, diamond’s extreme and diverse properties give it high tensile strength, chemical inertness, broad optical transmission and very high thermal conductivity.

Our mission

We strive to deliver extreme performance through the development of cutting-edge synthetic diamond and tungsten carbide solutions.

Our Shareholder Structure

Element Six is made up of 2 businesses:

Technologies:

100% owned by De Beers Group

Abrasives:

60% owned by De Beers Group

40% owned by Umicore

De Beers Group

Umicore

De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, the De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, the De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia, and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of the De Beers Group are committed to ‘Building Forever’ by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about the De Beers Group, visit www.debeersgroup.com.

Umicore is a global materials technology group focused on materials science, chemistry, and metallurgy. Its activities are centred on four business areas:

  1. Catalysis
  2. Energy materials
  3. Performance materials
  4. Recycling

Umicore is dedicated to clean technologies like emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries, photovoltaics, fuel cells, and recycling. Umicore has industrial operations on all continents. It generated a turnover of €11.94 billion in 2017 and currently employs approximately 9,769 people.*

*Source: http://annualreport.umicore.com/media/1517/ar2017annualreviewen.pdf

Learn more

To learn more about who we are and what we do, click on one of the links below: