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De Beers Announces Potential Layoffs, 2-Year Production Pause at Venetia
The diamond miner and marketer is undergoing another round of cost-cutting measures ahead of its sale by Anglo American.
De Beers announced Monday that it will shut down mining operations at Venetia for two years as part of another round of cost-cutting measures. The South African diamond mine opened in 1992 and became an underground operation in 2023. (©De Beers Group/Photo credit: Ben Perry @ Armoury Films)
London—De Beers Group will be undergoing another round of cost-cutting that likely will result in layoffs at its corporate headquarters in London and a two-year pause on production at the Venetia mine in South Africa.
According to a statement circulated Monday, De Beers plans to “reconfigure its global operating model” to prioritize its core businesses and cut costs at the corporate level.
A De Beers spokesperson said the reconfiguration is expected to result in a reduction in headcount—how many people will be laid off is unknown at this time—as well as roles moving from corporate to operations.
The majority of those who will be affected are based in London and De Beers expects the changes to impact a “significant” number of roles.
Also on Monday, De Beers announced plans to shut down production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years.
The company’s only remaining diamond mine in South Africa, Venetia opened in 1992.
The open-pit mine transitioned into an underground operation in 2023, a $2.2 billion project that, when fully complete, was projected to expand Venetia’s life to at least 2046.
De Beers said it will be “rephasing capital expenditure” on the underground project, meaning that while it will continue to spend money on developing the mine’s underground operations, it will cut back on the amount of capital it is pouring into the project in the near term.
The company spokesperson said the planned two-year production pause is expected to result in “significant” layoffs at the mine, but De Beers will “seek to provide employees with a range of support as they exit the business.”
The company also will continue to invest in the community and its Social and Labour Plan for the mine.
De Beers said its production guidance for 2026, 21-26 million carats, remains unchanged, as production at other mines will offset the loss of Venetia.
Related stories will be right here …
According to a statement circulated Monday, De Beers plans to “reconfigure its global operating model” to prioritize its core businesses and cut costs at the corporate level.
A De Beers spokesperson said the reconfiguration is expected to result in a reduction in headcount—how many people will be laid off is unknown at this time—as well as roles moving from corporate to operations.
The majority of those who will be affected are based in London and De Beers expects the changes to impact a “significant” number of roles.
Also on Monday, De Beers announced plans to shut down production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years.
The company’s only remaining diamond mine in South Africa, Venetia opened in 1992.
The open-pit mine transitioned into an underground operation in 2023, a $2.2 billion project that, when fully complete, was projected to expand Venetia’s life to at least 2046.
De Beers said it will be “rephasing capital expenditure” on the underground project, meaning that while it will continue to spend money on developing the mine’s underground operations, it will cut back on the amount of capital it is pouring into the project in the near term.
The company spokesperson said the planned two-year production pause is expected to result in “significant” layoffs at the mine, but De Beers will “seek to provide employees with a range of support as they exit the business.”
The company also will continue to invest in the community and its Social and Labour Plan for the mine.
De Beers said its production guidance for 2026, 21-26 million carats, remains unchanged, as production at other mines will offset the loss of Venetia.
The proposed two-year halt on production at Venetia follows the company’s decision earlier this year to pause an expansion project, Tuzo Phase 3, at the Gahcho Kué mine in Canada.
Venetia is one of several diamond mines that have closed this year amid rising operational costs and continued sluggishness in rough diamond sales caused in part by competition from lab-grown diamonds, which has been particularly detrimental to smaller-sized natural goods.
In March, Rio Tinto hauled the last load out of the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada, while the future of another Canadian diamond mine, Ekati, is in question.
Storm Mountain Diamonds placed the Kao mine in Lesotho on care and maintenance this month while Petra Diamonds announced in May that it was implementing a business rescue plan for the Finsch mine in South Africa.
Petra began cutting back production at the mine in June.
“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation,” De Beers CEO Al Cook said in the company announcement.
“We recognize the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the U.S. and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.
“Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favorably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”
De Beers is owned by mining giant Anglo American, which publicly confirmed that it was putting De Beers up for sale in May 2024.
After more than two years, indications are that the sale will happen soon.
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