Anglo-American spent US$18 million (N$333 million) on capital expenditure (capex) for the period ending June 30, 2024, for its Namibian operations.
The company’s half-year financial report highlights underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$84 million (N$1.5 billion) and an underlying EBIT of US$66 million (N$1.2 billion) from the Namibian segment.
Production totalled 1,2 million carats, with unit costs at US$270 per carat and an average selling price of US$435 per carat during the half year.
Meanwhile, total sales volumes for the group were 12.7 million carats, down from 17.3 million carats the previous year. Despite this, the company said the average diamond price remains robust.
Anglo-American, which holds an 85% stake in De Beers Group, continues to focus on operational efficiency and investment in growth across its diamond assets.
The De Beers Group reported an 11% decline in diamond recovery to 0.56 million carats for its Namibian operations in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter.
The first quarter of 2024 saw 0.63 million carats recovered, while compared to the second quarter of 2023, the company reported an 8% decline to 0.61 million carats.
“Production in Namibia decreased by 8% to 0.6 million carats, reflecting planned vessel maintenance at Debmarine Namibia, partially offset by planned mining of higher-grade areas at Namdeb,” said the Group.
Meanwhile, according to production statistics, the total recovery for the first half (H1) of 2024 was 1.19 million carats, a 3% decrease from 1.23 million carats in H1 2023.
“Debmarine Namibia reported a recovery of 0.43 million carats in Q2 2024, down 15% from Q1 2024’s 0.51 million carats and Q2 2023’s 0.50 million carats,” said De Beers.
Debmarine’s total recovery for H1 2024 was 0.93 million carats, a 7% decrease from 1.00 million carats in H1 2023.
On the other hand, Namdeb’s land operations saw a recovery of 0.13 million carats in Q2 2024, a 5% increase from Q1 2024’s 0.13 million carats and a 23% increase from Q2 2023’s 0.11 million carats. “The H1 2024 recovery for Namdeb was 0.26 million carats, a 14% rise from 0.23 million carats in H1 2023,” said the Group.
