http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a70e0dcc-0149-11de-8f6e-000077b07658.html

The world's biggest and most valuable diamond mines have been mothballed since the start of the year when De Beers put its Botswana production on hold as sales of the stones slumped.

Global sales of the precious stones, which trade through auction houses and private placements rather than commodity markets, have fallen to a standstill.

She said the challenge was to retain the "agility" to start up once demand returned.

Last week, Standard and Poor's, the credit rating agency, warned that it might downgrade its opinion of Botswana's creditworthiness in light of the turmoil in the diamond market.

mothball 使わないものを保存しておく

standstill 停止

retain 保つ

agility 軽快さ

in light of …の観点から