Severalmaz, a subsidiary of ALROSA Group, resumed operations at its processing plant on the Lomonosov diamond field after a temporary shutdown.The ore processing facility, idle since mid-May, was restarted on July 8 and will continue operation until October 8, 2020, ALROSA says in its press note. During this period, the staff will rotate in three shifts of 30 days each. The decision to increase the duration of shifts was made to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection. All the staff will be tested for COVID-19 before arriving on site.
The plant is expected to process 855,000 tons of ore in the third quarter of 2020.
The ore processing at Severalmaz will be idled from October 8, 2020 to April 1, 2021 and the plant will be put on care and maintenance.
As a response to the situation in the global diamond industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions, ALROSA implements a number of measures to cut costs in 2020 that would lead to the annual diamond production of 28-31 million carats vs initial guidance of 34 million carats.
