Extensive terrestrial diamond mining occurs on the southern coast of Namibia, and at Elizabeth Bay near Lüderitz sediment tailings totalling about 2 million tons.yr−1, have been discharged onto the beach. We report here on monitoring spanning 2004-2012 to assess (1) the impacts of increased tailings discharges following an expansion of the mine in 2005, and (2) recovery after discharges halted in 2009. Sampling covered three levels of wave exposure, and compared impacted sites with comparable unmined reference sites. Benthic communities were quantified on both intertidal and subtidal reefs, and kelp densities and rock-lobster abundances, lengths and sex ratios on subtidal reefs. Keywords: diamond mining, disturbance, reefs, rocky-shore communities, sediment disposal, shoreline accretion.