Debswana full-year production jumps 7%

Brian Benza | Friday January 30, 2015 15:56

Figures released by parent company Anglo American on Wednesday indicate that production at Debswana was six percent down in the fourth quarter, but annual output numbers still surpassed 2013.

“For the full year, Debswana’s production grew seven percent to 24.237 million carats with solid increases at both Orapa and Jwaneng.

Production at Debswana, De Beers Botswana subsidiary, fell six percent to 5.989 million carats across the Orapa, Jwaneng, Damtshaa and Letlhakane mines,” Anglo stated.

Debswana is a 50-50 joint partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers, with the latter now 85 percent owned by global mining house, Anglo American.

De Beers gets about 70 percent of its supply from Debswana, with its other mines from Namibia, South Africa and Canada providing the remainder.

De Beers production for the year to December 2014 was 32.6 million carats, a five percent increase on the previous year, due to increased production from Debswana, with Jwaneng and Orapa both delivering higher output as a result of improved plant performance.

De Beers rough diamond production fell eight percent year on year to 8.366 million carats during the fourth quarter of 2014, stated Anglo American, which owns 85 percent stake in De Beers.

In Namibia, Namdeb’s production increased seven percent to 496,000 carats, while De Beers Canada saw production decline by 18 percent to 479,000 carats from the Snap Lake and Victor mines.

 Production from De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) in South Africa dropped 19 percent to 1.402 million carats from the Kimberley, Venetia and Voorspoed mines.

Namdeb’s production rose seven percent to 1.886 million carats, while production at De Beers Canada fell 6 percent to 1.848 million carats. Production at DBCM fell two percent to 4.634 million carats.

In 2013 Debswana ramped up production by 12 percent to 22.7 million carats to power parent company, De Beers’ output to a five-year high.

From a high of 34 million carats in 2007, diamond production, which contributes just under 30 percent to Botswana’s GDP and 65 percent to foreign exchange receipts, has plateaued in the last few years as Debswana caps production to match weakening market conditions.

In the medium to long-term, De Beers expects industry fundamentals to strengthen as diamond production plateaus and demand continues to increase.

In a recent interview with BusinessWeekly, De Beers CEO Phillipe Mellier said Debswana targets to produce slightly less than the 2014 production this year.