Anglo American, which has an 85% stake in De Beers, said sightholders took a cautious approach to their purchasing during the third quarter of 2023 as a result of the uncertain macroeconomic environment and high levels of diamond inventory in the midstream.
Group’s rough diamond sales totalled 7.4 million carats from three sights, a decline of 19% compared with 9.1 million carats from three sights, a year earlier and 7.6 million carats from two sights in the second quarter of 2023.
Anglo American said De Beers will continue to support its sightholders to help re-establish equilibrium between wholesale supply and demand by providing full flexibility for rough diamond allocations in the last two sights of 2023.
Meanwhile, De Beers’ rough diamond production dropped by 23% to 7.4 million carats in the third quarter of the year, mainly due to the planned reduction in South Africa as Venetia transitions to underground operations and begins the ramp-up of production, as well as planned maintenance in Botswana.
Anglo American said that production in Botswana fell by 12% to 5.8 million carats, driven by lower throughput at Orapa due to planned maintenance.
Production in Namibia was flat at 530,000 carats.
In South Africa, production also dropped by 78% to 400,000 carats due to the planned end of Venetia's open pit operations in December 2022.
Venetia will continue to process lower-grade surface stockpiles as the underground operations ramp up production over the next few years.
Production in Canada eased by 9% to 700,000 carats due to the planned treatment of lower-grade ore.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
