International diamond major De Beers, in which Anglo American owns an 85% stake, decreased its diamond production by 27% in Q3, 2015 following the decision to reduce production to better reflect current trading conditions.
This saw the total number of carats produced for the quarter down from 8.2 million carats to 6 million carats.
The drop in the total Anglo American diamonds production is entirely derived from the company’s Botswana and South African operations.
At Debswana, production decreased by 35% to 4.1 million carats as a result of planned maintenance being prioritised in light of current trading conditions at both Jwaneng and Orapa, whilst at Jwaneng there was also a focus on waste mining and the processing of lower grade material.
Production at DBCM (South Africa) decreased by 8% to 1 million carats, largely as a result of reduced throughput and processing lower grades at Venetia, again as a response to current trading conditions.
Production in Namibia increased however by 4% due to higher volumes from the marine operations, partly as a result of increased availability of the Mafuta vessel while production in Canada increased by 11%, due principally to improved grades at Snap Lake.
De Beers has revised its full year production guidance to about 29 million carats, from the previous 29 – 31 million carats.
