Production | Diamond Mining.
Production at Debswana went up significantly in the third quarter of 2021, increasing by 33% to 6.4 million carats.
The increase in production was primarily driven by the planned treatment of higher grade ore at Jwaneng, partly offset by lower production at Orapa due to the planned closure of No. 1 Plant.
Production at Jwaneng – Debswana’ s largest revenue earner, has been rising steadily, clocking 3.954 million carats in third quarter 2021 from 3.169 million in second quarter after 3.091 million in the first quarter of 2021.
At Orapa output clocked 1.869 million carats for the first three months of the year, then rose sharply to 2.558 million carats in the second quarter before going down slightly to 2.449 million in the third quarter.
Debswana’s total production reached 6.403 million for the third quarter of the year 2021 from 5.727 million in the second quarter after 4.960 million in the first quarter of the year.
In comparison to third quarter of 2020 total production went up from 4.827 million to 6.403 million mirroring the 33% increase.
Production at other De Beers operations
At De Beers Group level, rough diamond production increased by 28% to 9.2 million carats, reflecting planned higher production to meet stronger demand for rough diamonds.
In Namibia, production increased by 65% to 0.4 million carats reflecting the suspension of the marine fleet during Q3 2020, as part of the response to lower demand at that time.
South Africa production increased by 34% to 1.6 million carats due to planned treatment of higher grade ore from the final cut of the Venetia open pit and an improvement in plant performance.
Production in Canada decreased by 13% to 0.8 million carats due to lower grade ore being processed. Botswana remains De Beers’ biggest producer country accounting for 69.5% of the company’s global production beating all other countries combined, by far!
Rough diamond Sales
De Beers’s Rough diamond sales clocked 7.8 million carats (7.0 million carats on a consolidated basis) from two Sights, compared with 6.6 million carats (6.5 million carats on a consolidated basis) from three Sights in Q3 2020, and 7.3 million carats (6.5 million carats on a consolidated basis) from two Sights in Q2 2021.
De Beers tightened production guidance to 32 million carats (previously 32-33 million carats) due to continuing operational challenges, subject to the extent of any further Covid-19 related disruptions.
On Wednesday 21st October 2021 De Beers announced the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auctions) for the eighth sales cycle of 2021.
The company raked in US$ 490 million for the cycle, a slight improvement when compared to US$467 million recorded in 2020 cycle 8.
Owing to the restrictions on the movement of people and products in various jurisdictions around the globe, De Beers Group has continued to implement a more flexible approach to rough diamond sales during the eighth sales cycle of 2021, with the Sight event extended beyond its normal week-long duration.
As a result, the provisional rough diamond sales figure quoted for Cycle 8 represents the expected sales value for the period 4 October to 19 October and remains subject to adjustment based on final completed sales.
Commenting on the cycle 8 sales De Beers Group Chief Executive Officer Bruce Cleaver said that: “As the diamond sector prepares for the key holiday season and US consumer demand for diamond jewellery continues to perform strongly, we saw further robust demand for rough diamonds in the eighth sales cycle of the year ahead of the Diwali holiday when demand for rough diamonds is likely to be affected by the closure of polishing factories in India.”
