De Beers had an 8% decline in rough diamond production in 2023, totaling 31.9 million carats, Rough & Polished reports. This reduction is attributed to a deliberate decrease in output at the Venetia mine in South Africa during its transition to underground operations.
In South Africa, diamond output plummeted by 64% to 2 million carats . Botswana maintained its position as De Beers’ primary diamond source, marking a 2% increase in output to 24.7 million carats. Namibia had a 9% growth in diamond output to 2.3 million carats in 2023, while De Beers’ diamond production in Canada held steady at 2.8 million carats.
Production guidance for 2024 remains unchanged, ranging between 29 million and 32 million carats.
In addition, De Beers saw a 19% decline in sales volume to 27.4 million carats in 2023. The full-year consolidated average realized price fell 25% to $147 per carat.
In other De Beers-related news, the miner unveiled its latest lab-grown diamond detector, the AMS Micro (Automated Melee Screening), on February 13. According to a press release quoted by IDEX Online, the device employs robotic technology to efficiently screen up to 2,500 of the tiniest melee diamonds per hour, and it can detect stones as small as 0.001 carats.
