De Beers’ Q4 Diamond Production Down 8 Percent

Rapaport reported that the rough diamond production of De Beers fell by 8 percent year-on-year, to 8.366 million carats, during the fourth quarter of 2014. The slump has mainly been attributed to the lower grades at the Orapa and Venetia mines.

As quoted in the market news:

Production at Debswana, De Beers Botswana subsidiary, fell 6 percent to 5.989 million carats across the Orapa, Jwaneng, Damtshaa and Letlhakane mines. In Namibia, Namdeb’s production increased 7 percent to 496,000 carats, while De Beers Canada saw production decline by 18 percent to 479,000 carats from the Snap Lake and Victor mines. Production from De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) in South Africa dropped 19 percent to 1.402 million carats from the Kimberley, Venetia and Voorspoed mines.

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