SOON after shutting its Snap Lake mine in Canada, De Beers has officially opened its new Gahcho Kué mine, which it described as the largest new diamond mine in 13 years.De Beers is the 51% owner of the $1bn mine, which it shares with Toronto-listed Mountain Province Diamonds.The mine will reach steady state operation in the first quarter of next year."Allied to our major investments in production capacity expansion in the southern African region, the opening of Gahcho Kué positions De Beers and its partners strongly to capitalise on the industry’s positive demand outlook," De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said.It was the largest diamond mine De Beers had built outside Southern Africa, he said.The remote mine, which requires most of its 530 staff to fly in and fly out on a two-week work rotation, is slated to generate 54-million carats over its life.De Beers is 85% owned by Anglo American and is one of three "consumer-facing" products the diversified miner is keeping in its portfolio as it...
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