De Beers Freezes Venetia Mine As It Looks to Manage Costs

By Karen Dybis | July 13, 2026

Noting that rough-diamond trading conditions are likely to remain challenging for the second half of 2026, De Beers Group on Monday said it plans to pause production for two years at its South African Venetia mine (pictured) to cut costs.

This move comes shortly after De Beers in April paused the third phase of an expansion project at its Gahcho Kué mine in Canada, which it had intended to keep running for another four years. De Beers Group CEO Al Cook has said it plans to shut Gahcho Kué down completely in 2028.

De Beers in its statement said its plan is to reconfigure its global operating model to “refocus and prioritize resources” on its core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.

“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation,” Cook said.

“We recognize the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the U.S. and beyond, particularly in higher-quality diamonds,” Cook continued. “Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favorably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”

De Beers is in the midst of a sale from its majority owner, London-based mining company Anglo American. Cook had said in June that the sale would happen “in the near future.” Predictions as to who is buying De Beers include former CEO Gareth Penny along with larger stakes for country partners including Botswana.

De Beers has operated the Venetia mine since 1992, and it is said to account for more than 40% of the country’s annual diamond production. The mine, which sits near Botswana and Zimbabwe, also is South Africa’s largest producer by value.

Venetia has a staff of about 3,500 people, De Beers tells JCK. De Beers said it will support affected employees and continue to invest in the community as well as its social and labor plan commitments.

Reaction to the pause announcement varied, with one outlet saying De Beers “slams the brakes on South Africa’s biggest diamond mine” and Bloomberg saying De Beers was shutting Venetia to “save cash.”

“De Beers has sought to lower production to try and support prices, but a glut of stones from Angola and weak demand has undermined those efforts,” Bloomberg wrote.

In its statement, De Beers said these moves were part of a larger plan to right-size its portfolio and organization “to ensure an efficient cost base” that boosts the company in the short term. Over the long haul, these moves will enhance future competitiveness, De Beers said, and give it options going into the future as diamond demand hopefully improves.

“Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets, and prioritize investment in activities that create the most value,” De Beers said. “Significant progress has been made with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale of closure of a number of non-core assets, and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.”

De Beers said its marketing efforts, including its Desert diamonds campaign, are supporting the natural diamond category. Its collaborations within the industry also are increasing the consumer’s interest in natural diamonds.

It said global consumer demand for natural diamond jewelry returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across U.S. independent jewelers in 2025 and into Q1 2026, “led by higher-value diamonds and those promoted by De Beers’ Desert diamonds marketing campaign.

“On the supply side, global rough diamond production is now decreasing, with several producers closing mines during 2026,” De Beers said. “Whilst the increasing rarity of diamonds and the emerging signs of improvement in consumer demand are likely to support longer-term value creation, rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near term due to cyclical and industry-specific factors.”

De Beers Group added in its statement that it will maintain current production levels through its other operations and previous production guidance remains unchanged.

Top: The Venetia Mine (photo courtesy of De Beers Group)