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De Beers Q1 Diamond Production Down 10%
The miner and marketer reported that diamond production fell by double digits in the first quarter as it scaled back operations due to the weak diamond demand witnessed in 2015.
De Beers, the world’s largest miner of diamonds in value terms, reported that first quarter production was down 10 percent to 6.9 million carats.
London--De Beers announced Thursday that diamond production fell by double digits in the first quarter as it scaled back operations due to the weak diamond demand witnessed in 2015.
Overall production for the company during the period was 6.9 million carats, down from the 7.7 million carats reported in the prior-year period.
At Debswana, De Beers’ joint venture with the government of Botswana, production decreased 5 percent to 5.3 million carats, also as part of the company’s strategy to “align production to trading conditions.” De Beers reported lower production at the Orapa mine, which was partially offset by an increase in production at Jwaneng.
Damtshaa, a satellite operation of Orapa, meanwhile, was placed on care and maintenance in January as part of parent company Anglo American’s “radical and aggressive” restructuring announced back in December to respond to the drop in commodity prices.
Production from De Beers Consolidated Mines in South Africa decreased by 12 percent to 932,000 carats in the quarter, due in large part to the sale of its oldest mining site, the Kimberley Mines, to Ekapa Minerals (Pty) Ltd.
De Beers Canada reported a drop in production of 68 percent to 162,000 carats due to fact that the Snap Lake mine there was shut down late last year, while Namdeb Holdings in Namibia said production was down 4 percent to 444,000 carats due to reduced grade at the mining site.
Despite its overall decrease in production in the first quarter, De Beers said that its full-year production guidance remains unchanged at 26 million to 28 million carats.
The company also reiterated that rough diamond sales in the first and second sights of 2016, totaling 7.6 million carats, showed an improvement in trading conditions relative to the second half of 2015.
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