De Beers CEO Comments on Delay at Gahcho Kue

Reuters reported that according to Phillippe Mellier, CEO of De Beers Group, the company’s Gahcho Kue diamond mine may not reach first production until 2017. That’s two years later than initially expected.

As quoted in the market news:

The mine had once been expected to start producing around December 2015, but regulatory restrictions limited shipments to Gahcho Kue this winter, delaying construction.

Having missed this year’s short shipping season, De Beers is hoping to get the approvals it needs to truck in more equipment and material next winter.

‘We hope things are going to move. We are confident they will move in the right direction,’ said Mellier.

Mellier said he expects production to start at the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.