De Beers Starts Construction Below Venetia Open-pit Mine

Rapaport reported that the De Beers Group of Companies has started construction of a $2-billion underground mine below the South Africa-based open-pit Venetia mine. The new mine should extend Venetia’s life beyond 2040; it will also replace the open pit as South Africa’s largest diamond mine.

As quoted in the market news:

With underground production expected to begin in 2021, over its life of the mine, De Beers anticipates producing 96 million carats from approximately 130 million tonnes of ore. The underground mine will support over 8,000 jobs directly and another 5,000 across the supply chain, according to De Beers.

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma symbolically turned the first earth at the mine during a ceremony today.

Click here to read the full Rapaport report.