De Beers to spend $2 billion on prolonging Venetia mine life
De Beers to spend $2 billion on prolonging Venetia mine life
De Beers says it plans to invest around $2 billion on the building of an underground mine beneath the current open pit at its Venetia mine in South Africa.
The investment in the new mine will extend the mine life of Venetia to 2042. The new mine will replace the open pit as the country's largest diamond mine, the company said in a statement.
De Beers obtained the last required regulatory authorization earlier in February.
The miner said that the development and construction of the mine and ongoing open pit mining operations will create around 1,000 jobs during the next nine years.
Underground mining operations are scheduled to begin in 2021, with a targeted output of 96 million carats and employment for more than 3,000 employees.
Philippe Mellier, De Beers Group CEO, commented, “Our investment in Venetia enables us to provide greater certainty around long-term supply for our sightholders, particularly those with manufacturing operations in South Africa. Our sightholders have significant investments in the local cutting industry and this new underground mine will provide a large and predictable supply of rough diamonds for decades to come.
Barend Petersen, De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) Chairman, said, “We see this significant capital investment as another concrete example of our commitment to the South African mining industry, an industry on which the South African economy was built following the discovery of diamonds in 1866. Almost 150 years later, the country is a diverse economy, while mining remains an integral part of the aspiration to build a more prosperous and equitable South Africa.”
Meanwhile, DBCM CEO Phillip Barton added, “The De Beers Venetia underground project team have been assessing the safest and most economic options to extend the mining operations at Venetia mine and unlock the extensive ore reserves beneath the open pit. Venetia will play a major role in the future of De Beers and we have therefore been preparing for years to meet tight deadlines and high standards so that Venetia Underground is ready to begin producing South African diamonds by 2021.”
