De Beers Halts Production at Venetia Diamond Mine for Two Years

De Beers plans to halt production at its Venetia diamond mine in South Africa for two years as a persistent global market downturn forces the company to slash operational spending.

According to the company’s announcement, the suspension will defer capital expenditure on the mine’s newly transitioned underground operation. Management intends to maintain essential infrastructure spending at the site to preserve a fast ramp-up capability once rough diamond prices recover.

The shutdown directly threatens approximately 4,400 jobs at Venetia, which produced 2.23 million carats in 2025. This volume accounted for 10.3 percent of De Beers’ total global rough diamond production last year.

The facility commenced underground extraction in July 2023, following three decades of open-pit mining that concluded in December 2022.

“Our commitment is to focus on value, improve resilience and position De Beers to compete strongly as industry conditions recover,” CEO Al Cook said in a statement.

To manage the shortfall, De Beers plans to offset the missing Venetia output by scaling extraction at its other facilities.

Last week, the company also slashed official rough diamond prices and condensed its client base from 70 down to roughly 45, consolidating sales among its highest-volume buyers.

In 2024, De Beers’ parent company, Anglo American (LSE:AAL,OTCQX:NGLOY), had pushed to sell the diamond producer. Anglo American placed its 85 percent stake in De Beers on the market to execute a broad restructuring and fend off a hostile takeover bid from BHP (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP).

Last month, Cook indicated that a formal sale transaction had “never been closer,” telling attendees at the Reuters NEXT Europe conference that he expected a deal in “weeks rather than months.”

Several mining majors and sovereign wealth funds have reportedly engaged in bidding, running parallel to high-level discussions with the Botswana government, which holds the remaining 15 percent stake in De Beers.

The diamond sector continues to labor under various pressures. Anglo American recently slashed the carrying value of the De Beers unit by US$2.3 billion, marking the third consecutive annual impairment.

Losses at De Beers widened to US$511 million last year as the broader market contended with a surplus of rough stones, intensified competition from lab-grown synthetic diamonds, and disrupted polishing supply chains.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.