Anglo American plc diamond production went up in the second
quarter of the year, bolstered by the miner’s Limpopo operations and
productivity improvements at Botswana operations.
The diversified company said in a production report for the second
quarter ended 30 June 2014 that diamond production increased by 7
percent largely due to higher output at Venetia following recovery
from the pit flooding in 2013.
“Production increased by 7percent to 8.5 million carats largely due to recovery from the pit flooding at Venetia in 2013,” the company said.
“At Debswana, production benefited from improved productivity at the
processing plants, together with the impact of the clean-up of the
Jwaneng slope failure in 2013. This was offset by the mining of lower
grade areas at Jwaneng,” it added.
Debswana led the pack as it recovered 6.3 million carats; with Orapa
recovering 3.5 million carats, Jwaneng 2.5 million, Letlhakane 177,
000 and Damtshaa 77, 000. Venetia, an open pit mine in Limpopo
Province of South Africa recovered 834,000 carats. Anglo American said operations in southern Africa were affected by high seasonal rainfall in Q1:2014, but recovered in Q2:2014, supported by initiatives implemented to better cope with these conditions.
