According to a production update from Anglo American, Debswana's diamond production fell to 4.54 million carats, although it still provided the lion's share of De Beers 6.4 million carats recovered in the first three months of 2013. Debswana normally accounts for around 70 percent of De Beers' production with the rest coming from South Africa, Namibia and Canada. In the statement, Anglo, which gained majority control of De Beers in a $5.2 billion (P43 billion) deal last year, said although the planned plant maintenance at Orapa slowed down output, production at the flagship, Jwaneng Mine is being ramped up.
"The Jwaneng Diamond Mine is continuing to recover from the impact of its slope failure incident in June 2012, which was followed by excessive rainfall at the end of 2012," said Anglo- American. Weakness in the global diamond market coupled with a temporary suspension of production at Jwaneng Mine pulled down Debswana's output by 12 percent to 20.2 million in 2012 from 22.89 million in 2011. From a high of 34 million carats in 2007, diamond production has plateaued in the last few years as Debswana caps production to match weakening market conditions.
