DiamondBuzz
De Beers and Botswana Reach Agreement on New Rough-Sales Deal and Extended Mining Licenses
De Beers and the government of Botswana have officially concluded their negotiations, finalizing a new rough diamond sales agreement and securing an extension of mining licenses for their joint venture, Debswana.
This marks the successful end to a long negotiation process that has seen multiple extensions of the previous contract since it expired in 2021. Despite reaching an agreement in principle in June 2023 and signing a “heads of terms” document in September, the deal remained pending due to discussions with Botswana’s former president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, and was finalized after Duma Boko assumed the presidency in November.
Under the new sales agreement, 30% of Debswana’s production will be allocated to Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), Botswana’s state-owned trading arm, with plans to gradually increase this to 50% over the next 10 years. The deal also includes a significant extension of Debswana’s mining licenses, which were initially set to expire in 2029. A 25-year extension of these licenses is part of the agreement, further solidifying the long-term future of diamond mining in the country. Additionally, the partners will jointly handle the sale of exceptional diamonds, sharing in the profits of polished sales.
Furthermore, the new agreement involves a BWP 1 billion ($75 million) upfront investment by De Beers in a diamond development fund, with additional contributions over the next decade. The fund aims to diversify Botswana’s economy, create jobs, enhance local diamond beneficiation, and provide training opportunities. This move is part of a broader strategy to ensure that the country’s diamond sector continues to contribute to economic growth and development for years to come.
DiamondBuzz
De Beers Group Sets Out Portfolio and Organisational Actions to Support Long-Term Value Creation
Company outlines strategic cost optimisation, portfolio streamlining and operational changes to strengthen resilience while positioning for long-term growth in the natural diamond industry.
De Beers Group is advancing delivery of its business streamlining by setting out a number of planned portfolio and organisational changes to ensure an efficient cost base that strengthens resilience in the near-term while enhancing future competitiveness and retaining optionality as industry conditions improve.
Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets and prioritise investment in activities that create the most value. Significant progress has been made, with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale or closure of a number of non-core assets and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.
Simultaneously, De Beers has reinvested in natural diamond category marketing to support the industry’s efforts to grow natural diamond demand, launching new large-scale campaigns and collaborating with key stakeholders across the value chain to foster industry-wide investment. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across US independent jewellers 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. 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.
Consistent with recent actions to improve business resilience, De Beers intends to pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years to reduce costs while also rephasing capital expenditure on its underground project. This will involve critical infrastructure investment to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the mine, with the intention to support future production growth as business and industry conditions improve.
De Beers is engaging with stakeholders in accordance with relevant requirements and the company’s values as it moves through this process, and will both support impacted employees and continue to invest in its community and Social and Labour Plan commitments.
This proposed action at Venetia Mine follows the decision earlier this year to pause the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada.
In parallel, De Beers plans to reconfigure its global operating model to refocus and prioritise resources on the core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said:

“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. We recognise the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the US and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.
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, favourably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”
De Beers Group will maintain current production levels through its other operations, and previous production guidance remains unchanged.
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