De Beers' 3rd quarter diamond production falls by 31 pct due to mine accident in Botswana

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World diamond giant De Beers' production fell 31 percent to 6.37 million carats in the third quarter of 2012 from 9.3 million carats in the same period of last year.

De Beers' parent company Anglo American said in a statement on Thursday that the significant fall is largely in response to market conditions and slope failure in its Jwaneng mine in Botswana in June 2012 which temporarily prevented access to the main ore body.

The company said market conditions reflect a combination of a softening in the polished diamond market and a credit-constrained rough diamond market.

De Beers continues to focus its operations on maintenance, waste stripping and safety improvements, which has been its strategy since the fourth quarter of 2011 and will help ensure that its mines are well positioned to respond to an increase in demand once market conditions improve.

As a result, De Beers production fell 20 percent to 19.82 million carats during the first nine months of 2012.

As production has declined, De Beers said earlier that it will be unable to meet sight holder short-term demand as expressed by their initial applications for goods for the year.

De Beers rough sales to sight holders have decreased by 17 percent to 4.74 billion U. S. dollars in the first 10 months of 2012, according to Rapaport estimates.

Anglo American owns 85 percent of De Beers with Botswana's government holding the remaining 15 percent.

Botswana's Jwaneng diamond mine was hit by a collapse of the mine walls in at the end of June, trapping 16 workers, and 15 of them was rescued not long after rescue team got to work, while the remaining miner died on site.

Following the mishap, Jwaneng Mine has suspended its daily production until the recent completion of investigations into the accident. Jwaneng mine's spokesperson Louis Baseki told media recently that the mine is currently engaging various internal stakeholders on the findings.

Baseki said the affected area of the pit has been barricaded, with mining now being done at other parts of the mine.

Jwaneng mine is one of the four big diamond mines operated by De Beers in Botswana. It is the world's richest diamond mine by value. Endi

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