De Beers rough diamonds production jumps 88% in Q2

The De Beers Group has reported that its rough diamond production in Q2 2026 increased by 88% to 7.8 million carats, reflecting the impact of the extended maintenance shutdown in the comparative period at Orapa in Botswana and the planned mining of higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng in Botswana and Gahcho Kué in Canada.

In Botswana, production increased by 107% to 5.8m carats, due to the impact of the extended maintenance at Orapa in the comparative period and the planned mining of higher-grade ore at Jwaneng to optimise plant throughput.

Production in Namibia was broadly unchanged at 0.5 million carats. The retirement of the Coral Sea vessel in the comparative period and planned maintenance of the Mafuta vessel at Debmarine Namibia were largely offset by the planned mining of higher-grade areas at Namdeb.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, production at Venetia increased to 0.7m carats, largely as a result of processing higher volumes of underground ore. As announced by De Beers on 13 July 2026, a pause in production at Venetia is proposed to start in the second half of the year.

Additionally, in Canada, production increased 185% to 1m carats, as Gahcho Kué benefited from the planned processing of higher-grade ore from the new mining area.

Rough diamond sales in Q2 2026 totalled 7.1m carats (6m carats on a consolidated basis) from three Sights, generating consolidated rough diamond sales revenue of $665m (£499.6m). This compares with three Sights in Q2 2025 of 7.6m carats (6.8m carats on a consolidated basis), generating $1.2bn (£900m) of consolidated rough diamond sales revenue.

The H1 2026 consolidated average realised price declined by 32% to $105/carat (£78.8/carat), as a result of both a sales mix with a higher proportion of lower value goods due to the current inventory mix and a 16% decrease in the average rough price index (which is now reported including the impact of the stock rebalancing actions taken throughout 2025).

Looking ahead, production guidance is unchanged at 21m–26m carats (100% basis), as the impact of planned plant maintenance at Orapa and Jwaneng and the proposed production pause at Venetia in the second half is expected to reduce the full-year production run-rate.

De Beers said that it continues to monitor rough diamond trading conditions to align output with prevailing demand, and that the unit cost guidance for 2026 is unchanged at approximately $80/carat (£60.11).

De Beers said: “Rough diamond trading conditions remained challenging in the first half of 2026. The geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape remains uncertain, with the onset of the conflict in the Middle East adding to economic and consumer confidence risks.

“Synthetic lab-grown diamonds also continued to affect demand for lower value natural diamonds, adding pressure in more price-sensitive categories. However, stronger pricing for higher value goods supported a stable overall average price index throughout the period.”