De Beers Pauses Production at Largest South African Mine

The De Beers Group announced on July 13, 2026, that it will pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years. As the country's largest diamond mine by value, Venetia accounts for approximately 40% of South Africa's annual output and produced 2.23 million carats in 2025. The suspension is expected to trigger layoffs for approximately 4,400 workers.

This move is part of a broader cost-cutting strategy to remove over $100 million in yearly overhead and combat a severe industry crisis. The downturn is driven by weakened luxury spending in China, oversupply from Angola, and increasing competition from lab-grown diamonds. This pause follows previous operational halts at the Gahcho Kué mine in Canada and sites in Lesotho. De Beers intends to use the downtime to improve infrastructure capacity and restrict supply to help recover prices.

Meanwhile, parent company Anglo American plc is seeking to sell De Beers to pivot its focus toward the copper market. The acquisition process saw a shift in contenders when former CEO Bruce Cleaver withdrew his bidding consortium, citing a lack of appropriate short-term return on investment. This leaves another former CEO, Gareth Penny, as the primary candidate to acquire the company with a bid focused on the mining and marketing of natural stones.