Anglo American, which has an 85% stake in De Beers, plans to cut $100 million in annual expenses from the diamond company.
Group chief executive Duncan Wanblad said they have also reduced capital expenditure for next year, with their investment focused on the highest value opportunities they see in southern Africa from existing assets as well as on the exploration front.
“We will focus our efforts on the ramp-up of Venetia underground in South Africa and we are planning to move forward with the first phase of Jwaneng underground in Botswana,” he said.
He said long-term fundamentals are strong and the group has access to the world’s best diamond assets.
“These include our renewed mining licences in Botswana where we are progressing, as planned, towards a full agreement with the Government early next year,” said Wanblad.
De Beers faced significant pressure downstream in the second half of the year as consumer spending on luxury goods eased, while China has been much slower to recover post-COVID-19 than expected.
The diamond company had been loss-making in the second half of the year with expected sales volumes of around 25 million carats, according to Wanblad.
“We believe the fundamentals for diamonds are strong and we are positioning ourselves to supply into that demand bounce,” he said.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
