De Beers provisionally sold $495 million worth of rough diamonds in its second sales cycle of 2023, according to IDEX Online. In the 1st cycle, De Beers raked in $454 million, and in the 2nd sales cycle of 2022, it sold $652 million worth of rough diamonds.
De Beers CEO Al Cook talked about a “continued steady demand for rough diamonds in line with De Beers’ expectations for sales as the year progresses,” and added: “[…] we know that sightholders planned more of their purchases for later in 2023, given the economic uncertainty at the time they were taking their planning decisions at the end of 2022.”
In other De Beers news, the Botswana-De Beers deal saga continues. Just recently, Botswana threatened to walk away from its deal with De Beers unless it can get “more favorable” terms. Now, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi is saying that it is “only logical” that Botswana should want more and get more from its deal with De Beers.
“Besides the fact that the diamonds are ours, it doesn’t make sense for us to continue to relegate ourselves to participating in the rough space only. So, it’s only logical that we want more and we are going to get more. But through negotiation,” he said, according to a Reuters report quoted by IDEX Online.
So far, attempts to negotiate the deal, signed in 2011 between Botswana and the mining giant, have failed. As per the 2011 agreement, “the government sells most of the country’s rough production through Debswana, a 50-50 partnership with De Beers.”
