Name Mike Botha | ||
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Mike botha cutting the first facet on the esperanza diamond
Mike Botha is a master diamond cutter, with close to five decades in the profession, his training and subsequent career began in South Africa and has led him to Mauritius, Russia and Canada – from Vancouver to the Northwest Territories to Saskatchewan.
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Biography
Michiel Josias "Mike" Botha (born 1947) is one of the foremost authorities on diamond design, cutting and polishing in North America. Trained under David du Plessis, he received his cross-working apprenticeship diploma in 1970 in South Africa. He has also worked as the occupational certification officer for the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories under the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and was also the technical consultant for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment for their Government Diamond Certification Program.
Botha led the Diamond Training Program at Aurora College in Yellowknife. During his six-year tenure with Aurora College, he developed and delivered programs, earning the college the Yves Landry Award for Outstanding Innovation in Education.
Mike Botha established Embee Diamond Technologies 1998- an authoritative diamond design, polishing and finishing source in Canada. Embee Diamond Technologies operates a diamond cutting and polishing atelier in Prince Albert, SK..
Botha has cut and polished large diamonds including one of the diamonds in the Premier Rose Diamond collection- the Premier (baby) Rose diamond, weighing 353.9 carats (70.78 g) in its rough state along with Willem Joubert. Most recently, he has been commissioned to cut the 8.52ct Esperanza Diamond discovered at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas to the custom-designed 4.605ct Esperanza Triolette- designed by Botha.
In 1998, Botha was recruited to cut several large diamonds for Diagem International including two 100-carat (20 g) and one 314-carat (62.8 g) diamonds. These are the largest gems ever cut and polished in Canada to date.
In January 2012, Mike Botha was presented with an Award of Merit, the city of Prince Albert's highest honour from mayor Jim Scarrow.
Personal
He married his wife Susanna in 1970, and they have a daughter, Myra and a son, Evert.