The Southern Times reported that Debswana has announced plans to cease operations at the Damtshaa diamond mine. It will also scale down production at the Orapa No. 1 mine over the next three years.

Debswana is a 50/50 joint venture between the De Beers Group of Companies and the government of Botswana.

As quoted in the market news:

The company’s spokesperson Esther Kanaimba-Senai said the Damtshaa Mine will go into a care and maintenance programme for up to three years.

“Debswana Diamond Company is to place Damtshaa Mine, which is part of the Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines, into a care and maintenance programme for up to three years as part of the company’s response to the downturn in the diamond market,” she said

Kanaimba-Senai said Orapa Mine Plant 1 will run at a reduced production level of approximately one million carats per year in order to maintain plant readiness to ramp up production quickly should it be required.

“As a result Debswana has revised its production for 2016 to 20 million carats to match expected levels of demand for rough diamonds,” she said.

Click here to read the full report from The Southern Times.

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