High demand pushes De Beers output towards 2008 levels
De Beers forecast full-year production in 2018 of between 34-million and 36-million carats — a level last seen in 2008
De Beers, the largest producer of rough diamonds by value, will run its mines at nearly full capacity in 2018 because the company expects improved demand for diamond jewellery. De Beers forecast full-year production in 2018 of between 34-million and 36-million carats — a level last seen in 2008 — and which was just about as much as it can generate if it reached the upper end of that estimate, said CEO Bruce Cleaver. In 2017, De Beers, an 85%-owned subsidiary of Anglo American, increased diamond production by 22% to 33.5-million carats, with the new Gahcho Kue mine in Canada entering production during March 2017. For 2019 and 2020, De Beers is expected to produce closer to 32-million carats as mining at the Venetia mine in Limpopo, SA, moves fully underground from being an opencast operation. The $2bn project will extend the mine’s life to 2046. The big growth area for De Beers is Namibia where the value of the diamonds it mines dwarfs that from the rest of the operations in Botswana...
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