De Beers’ diamond sale for beneficiation up 11% in 2014

In its 2014 Report to Society, De Beers Group of Companies announced the results of sale of rough diamonds for local beneficiation purposes. The sales valued US$1.56 billion in 2014, rising 11 percent. De Beers’ approach to beneficiation means that a proportion of the diamonds mined by the company and its partners is sold for processing to customers in its producer countries.

In doing so, more of the value of the diamonds remains in-country, thereby supporting the growth of local cutting, polishing and jewellery manufacturing industries.

Philippe Mellier, Chief Executive, De Beers Group, said: “2014 was a year of strong financial and operating performance for De Beers. But while I was encouraged by what we achieved, I was more encouraged by how we achieved it.

The Report to Society also informed that safety performance saw a 10 per cent improvement achieved without any loss of life. This led to a reduction of the lost-time injury frequency rate from 0.19 percent in 2013 to 0.17 per cent in 2014. The number of people covered by the company’s Best Practice Principles (BPPs), increased by 10,000, and the total number of those covered now stands at around 370,000 across the diamond value chain. De Beers’ social investment spend also rose to US$30.3 million, up by around US$800,000 on 2013, focused on health, education, housing and community development. De Beers owns and manages over 195,000 hectares of land set aside for biodiversity conservation. This equates to around seven hectares of land for every hectare affected by mining.

“Our investment in increasing standards in the diamond industry has clearly had a positive impact, and investment more generally is fundamental to the growth of our company and to the continued prosperity of our partners,” Philippe Mellier added.