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De Beers suspends Venetia diamond mine for two years
The production pause will reduce and defer spending on Venetia’s underground expansion, while output is shifted to other operations.
De Beers will idle production at its Venetia mine in South Africa for two years, citing cost cuts and business streamlining aimed at surviving a prolonged downturn in the rough diamond market, Mining.com reports.
The company said the pause is expected to reduce and defer spending on Venetia’s underground expansion, while keeping investment in infrastructure needed to ramp up production when market conditions recover. De Beers also said the move should not change its overall production targets, because output will be redirected to other operations.
Venetia produced 2.23 million carats in 2025, about 10.3% of the group’s rough diamond output, and the mine employs about 4,400 people. De Beers said underground production began in July 2023 after open-pit mining ended in December 2022, with the underground operation described as a $2.3 billion project.
The decision comes as De Beers prepares for a sale led by parent Anglo American and responds to weak natural diamond demand, falling prices, and competition from synthetic stones. De Beers also plans to simplify its operating model and reduce corporate costs, and it previously cut official rough diamond prices after new supply agreements reduced the number of sightholders from about 70 to between 45 and 50.