De Beers’ rough diamond production eased by 4% to 7.9 million carats in the second quarter of the year compared to 8,9 million carats, a year earlier.
The decrease, it said, was mainly due to the treatment of lower-grade ore at its operations in Botswana and Canada.
De Beers’ output in Botswana fell by 4% to 5.5 million carats due to lower grade ore being processed at both Jwaneng and Orapa.
Production in Canada also decreased by 28% to 600 000 carats due to treating lower grade ore, unscheduled plant maintenance and the impact of Covid-19-related absenteeism.
South African production fell by 4% to 1.2 million carats as a result of lower tonnes treated.
However, Namibia production jumped 67% to 600 000 carats, primarily driven by a continued strong performance from the Benguela Gem since the early delivery of the new diamond recovery vessel in the first quarter of the year.
De Beers said that strong demand for rough diamonds continued into the second quarter, with rough diamond sales totalling 9.4 million carats from three sights, compared with 7.3 million carats from two Sights in the second quarter of 2021 and 7.9 million carats from two Sights in the first quarter of 2022.
“While consumer demand for natural diamonds continued to be robust in the first half, a deterioration of global macro-economic conditions and reduced consumer spending could impact demand for diamond jewellery,” it said.
“Despite this, the combination of ongoing sanctions against Russia, decisions from a number of US-based jewellery businesses to apply their own restrictions on purchases of Russian diamonds, and continued development of provenance initiatives (such as the TracrTM blockchain platform) [have] the potential to underpin continued robust demand for De Beers’ rough diamonds.”
De Beers increased its production guidance for 2022 to between 32 million and 34 million carats from the previous 30-33 million carats, subject to trading conditions and the extent of further Covid-19-related disruptions.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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