DiamondBuzz
De Beers extends sightholder contract by six months
De Beers is giving its sightholders more breathing room, stretching the current supply agreement until June 30, 2026. The move, announced Friday, comes as the diamond industry weathers turbulence from shifting US tariffs and broader global uncertainty.
The extension delays De Beers’ plans to trim its sightholder roster from the present 69 and pushes back the rollout of its next supply framework. Customers will receive formal “extension letters” in Q4.
De Beers typically holds 10 sights annually in Gaborone, Botswana, where sightholders commit to buying set allocations of rough in exchange for reliable supply. For now, the miner is holding off major structural changes.
The extension also coincides with mounting interest from Botswana and Angola, both exploring stakes in De Beers — though the company cites only “external conditions” as the official reason for the pause.
There are approximately 53 international Sightholders currently buying rough diamonds from De Beers’ Global Sightholder Sales (GSS), plus 40 sightholders in Botswana and 14 in Namibia, but many companies are sightholders in multiple location. The likely total is around 60.
DiamondBuzz
Rio Tinto’s Diamond Division Posts $79 Million EBITDA Loss in 2025
Higher output from Canada’s Diavik Diamond Mine offsets revenue decline, but end-of-life pressures continue to weigh on performance.
Rio Tinto reported a challenging year for its diamond business in 2025, posting an underlying EBITDA loss of $79 million despite improved revenues. While the loss narrowed compared to the $115 million deficit recorded in 2024, the division remained under pressure amid a global diamond market slowdown and the nearing closure of its last active mine.
Annual revenue rose 19% to $332 million, supported by stronger production at the Diavik mine in Canada, Rio Tinto’s only remaining diamond operation. Output climbed 61% to 4.4 million carats, driven by the ramp-up of mining activities in the underground section of the A21 deposit, which began scaling up in late 2024.
However, the A21 underground ore body is expected to be depleted by the end of the first quarter of 2026, marking the end of Diavik’s operational life. The company plans to spend approximately $1 billion this year on closure activities related to Diavik, as well as rehabilitation work at the former Argyle Diamond Mine, which ceased production in 2020, and other non-diamond projects.
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