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De Beers Lowers Production Guidance for 2026, Anglo Mulls Another Writedown
It would be the third impairment charge in three years on De Beers Group, which continues to grapple with a “challenging” diamond market.
Diamond production was down significantly for De Beers Group in the fourth quarter, led by a 56 percent decline in Botswana, its top producer by far. The country’s Jwaneng mine was closed for maintenance for the entire quarter in response to market conditions.
London—De Beers Group reported Thursday that production dropped 35 percent in the fourth quarter as it conducted maintenance at key mines while demand for rough diamonds remains slow.
The diamond miner and marketer recovered 3.8 million carats of diamonds in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, down from 5.8 million in the prior year period.
Production in Botswana was down 56 percent, with two of the country’s three active diamond mines undergoing plant maintenance during the quarter.
Jwaneng, the world’s richest diamond mine, was offline the entire quarter, while Orapa was shut down during the month of October.
De Beers said that its mines in Botswana “will continue to prioritize cost management by maintaining a balance between optimal plant throughput and maintenance downtime.”
In South Africa, where De Beers operates one diamond mine (Venetia), production slipped 10 percent due to planned plant maintenance.
Production declined 21 percent in Namibia while scheduled maintenance was conducted on two diamond-mining vessels and the diamond recovery vessel, the Benguela Gem, was in port for an extended period to install a new subsea crawler.
Earlier in 2025, De Beers decommissioned two vessels in response to market conditions.
Canada, where De Beers operates one mine (Gahcho Kué), was the only bright spot, with production more than doubling to 949,000 carats as workers accessed new ore from the latest cut at the mine.
De Beers described the rough diamond market as “challenging,” and is cutting its production forecast for the full year.
The company now expects to produce 21-26 million carats of diamonds in 2026, down from its previous projection of 26-29 million carats.
Related stories will be right here …
The diamond miner and marketer recovered 3.8 million carats of diamonds in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, down from 5.8 million in the prior year period.
Production in Botswana was down 56 percent, with two of the country’s three active diamond mines undergoing plant maintenance during the quarter.
Jwaneng, the world’s richest diamond mine, was offline the entire quarter, while Orapa was shut down during the month of October.
De Beers said that its mines in Botswana “will continue to prioritize cost management by maintaining a balance between optimal plant throughput and maintenance downtime.”
In South Africa, where De Beers operates one diamond mine (Venetia), production slipped 10 percent due to planned plant maintenance.
Production declined 21 percent in Namibia while scheduled maintenance was conducted on two diamond-mining vessels and the diamond recovery vessel, the Benguela Gem, was in port for an extended period to install a new subsea crawler.
Earlier in 2025, De Beers decommissioned two vessels in response to market conditions.
Canada, where De Beers operates one mine (Gahcho Kué), was the only bright spot, with production more than doubling to 949,000 carats as workers accessed new ore from the latest cut at the mine.
De Beers described the rough diamond market as “challenging,” and is cutting its production forecast for the full year.
The company now expects to produce 21-26 million carats of diamonds in 2026, down from its previous projection of 26-29 million carats.
De Beers’ latest production figures were released as part of parent company Anglo American’s full fourth-quarter production report.
Anglo said Thursday that De Beers is expected to lose money again in 2025, and thereby it is considering another writedown on the company’s value when it reports its full-year financial results, scheduled to come out Feb. 20.
It would be the third impairment charge on the business in three years. Anglo wrote down the value of De Beers by $1.6 billion in 2024 and followed with a $2.9 billion impairment charge in February 2025.
It also said it is progressing with the sale of the diamond mining and marketing company. Anglo confirmed in May 2024 that it was looking to offload De Beers as part of a company-wide restructuring.
In an interview at JCK Las Vegas in May 2025, De Beers Group CEO Al Cook told National Jeweler he expects the separation will happen in the first half of 2026.
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