Wednesday, November 16, 2016

World's Top Diamond Mines

ALROSA has 10 primary diamond mines, 10 alluvial mines, and 2 mines in development in Russia. ALROSA produced about 38 million carats in 2015. The company holds a 32.8% stake in the Catoca mine in Angola. ALROSA’s mines represent 8 out of the top 15 largest producing diamond mines in the world in terms of carats produced. Jubilee and Nyurbinskaya mines produced over 9 million carats in 2015 making them the fourth and fifth largest projects in the world.
1.) Jwaneng : Botswana. It is owned by Debswana. (50% DeBeers, 50% Botswana government) Jwaneng is the second largest diamond mine in Botswana and is nearing completion of the Cut-8 expansion, which will extend the mine life to at least 2025. Cut-8 will provide access to approximately 95 million carats of high quality diamonds, making Jwaneng the most valuable diamond reserve in the world. Jwaneng produced over 10.4 million carats of diamonds worth $1.6 billion in 2015.
>2.) Argyle : Australia. The Argyle mine in northwest Australia is owned and operated by Rio Tinto. The mine began production in 1985. The Argyle mine is known as the worlds largest producer of fancy coloured diamonds. It produced 12.6 million carats in 2014, making it the second largest diamond mine in the world in terms of carats produced. The recent move to full underground mining will extend the mine life to at least 2019.
3.) Orapa : Botswana. Orapa is Debswana-owned. Botswana’s Orapa mine was the worlds largest diamond mine in terms of total value of carats produced in 2014. Orapa is estimated to be the worlds largest by value, estimated to produce $1.9 billion worth of diamonds. In 2015 the Orapa mine produced about 11 million carats.
4.) Catoca : Angola. Catoca is owned and operated by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, a joint venture of the state-run mining company Endiama (32.8%), Alrosa (32.8%), China Sonagol (18%), and Odebrecht Mining (16.4%). The mine went into production in 1997 and is expected to produce 60 million carats over its lifetime, about 35% of which are gem quality.
5.) Diavik : Canada. The mine is owned by a joint venture between the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation and Rio Tinto Group. The mine consists of three kimberlite pipes associated with the Lac de Gras kimberlite field and is located on an island 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) in Lac de Gras. It is about 220 km (140 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The Diavik Mine produced 6.1 million carats in 2015.
6.) Venetia : South Africa. The Venetia mine is owned and operated by De Beers. The open-pit mine began production in 1992 and now produces about 40% of South African total diamond production. The mine produced over 4 million carats in 2015 with production valued at over $500 million.

7. Ekati : Canada. The Ekati mine is 80%-owned by BHP Billiton. The open-pit mine began operations in 1998. The Diavik Mine reported 39.6 million carats of proven reserves and 13.7 million carats of probable reserves at the beginning of 2015. The current mine plan is expected to take the mine’s production to 2023. About 4 million carats were produced in 2015.