A recent article written by diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky on Solitaire, an B2B gem and jewelry magazine published by India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), predicts that “mined diamond supply for 2022 will stay the same as” it did in 2021 – ~117 million rough carats. By comparison, diamond supply totalled 140 million carats in 2019.
According to Zimnisky, “the previous supply “floor” of last decade is likely to be the new supply “ceiling” this decade” – a downward trend that can be mostly attributed to “apathetic diamond prices last decade that in effect hindered appetite for new project exploration and development.”
In the last five years, due to the closures of Argyle in Australia, International and Mir in Russia, and Victor in Canada, over 30 million carats of net annual supply have come out of the market. Beyond 2022 and through the end of the decade, “global supply is expected to remain rangebound at 115 to 125 million carats per annum.”
Zimnisky goes on to examine mining trends at the Ekati and Diavik mines in Canada’s Northwest Territories, the Almazy-Anabara placer mines in Russia’s Siberia, the Koffiefontein mine in South Africa, and the Luaxe mine in Angola. He then discusses potential for new discoveries – such as active diamond explorations in Angola, Canada, Botswana, Russia, Australia, the DRC, Zimbabwe and Brazil.
Zimnisky concludes by discussing the mining “intentions” of the two of the largest diamond miners in the world – De Beers and Rio Tinto- including new mineral exploration licences to explore for diamonds in Angola.
