Namibia central bank says diamond production up

The Bank of Namibia said that the country’s diamond output for the first nine months of the year has increased significantly despite problems that dogged the recommissioning of De Beers’ Elizabeth Mine.
The central bank said in a report that the southern African country produced about 1.2 million carats in the first nine months compared with 987,000 carats recorded a year earlier.
It said Namibia had also exported 1.22 million carats worth N$5.7 billion ($655 million) during the period under review compared to 895,000 carats valued at N$3.8 billion ($436 million) that were shipped last year.
Namdeb missed its production targets during the first half of the year because of problems associated with the slow commissioning of the rehabilitated Elizabeth Bay Mine.
The diamond miner said in June that it had produced 198,000 carats during the first half of the year, 30 percent less than the initial target of 283,000 carats.
However, with the central bank data now showing an increase in output in the first nine months of the year, it was axiomatic that Namdeb had significantly boosted its output between July and September.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished