De Beers’ Output Up Strongly in Q1-Q3, says Anglo American

(IDEX Online News) – De Beers Group diamond production surged 21 percent on the year to 7.731 million carats in the third quarter that ended on September 30, according to Anglo American which owns 85 percent of the diamond miner.

In a breakdown of the figures, Anglo American reported that production at the De Beers Group’s largest unit, Debswana, jumped 24 percent to 5.446 million carats.

Meanwhile, production at De Beers Consolidated Mines in South Africa climbed 9 percent to 1.355 million carats, while De Beers Canada saw output soar 50 percent to 485,000 carats, and Namdeb production rose 6 percent to 445,000 carats.

Anglo American said that diamond production rose mainly due to the Jwaneng diamond mine in Botswana recovering fully following a slope accident in which an employee was killed in June 2012.

“This was partly offset by unplanned maintenance at one of the two Orapa processing plants. Production from Canada was significantly higher due to increased mining volumes and grade at Snap Lake. Production at Debswana decreased by 14 percent compared to Q2 2013 due to the Orapa plant maintenance and lower grades at Jwaneng. Production at Venetia continues to improve following the recovery from the impact of the pit flooding earlier in the year.”

In the first nine months of this year, De Beers’ production jumped 11 percent on the year-earlier period to 22.026 million carats.