Mined diamond production in 2017 is estimated to be 142.3 million carats worth $15.6B (see appendix below), which would be an 11.5% increase in carat volume produced over 2016 and an 9.9% increase in total value produced.
The top 10 largest mines in the world by value produced are estimated to represent 58% of global production. De Beers’ Jwaneng mine in Botswana is ranked number one, and is estimated to independently produce 15% of the world’s diamonds in value. Russia is estimated to be the largest producing nation by value at 35%, followed by Botswana at 22%, Canada at 14%, Angola at 8%, South Africa at 7%, Namibia at 5%, and Australia at 3%.
Russian diamond production is dominated by ALROSA (RTS: ALRS) which is 58% owned by Russian national and regional governments. The company’s prized Jubilee mine is estimated to produce 9.2M carats worth $1.4B in 2017, which by itself represents 9% of global diamond output by value. Company-wide, ALROSA’s portfolio includes 11 mines and 5 alluvial operations, producing 27% of global diamond production by volume and 33% by value (see Figure 1 for complete company-wide production figures of major producers).
ALROSA also owns two of only three new diamond mines in development globally with expected capacity to produce in excess of 1M carats annually (see Figure2).
Outside of ALROSA the only other notable commercial diamond mine in Russia is the Grib mine. In the early 2000’s Russian integrated oil company LUKoil (RTS: LKOH) acquired the rights to the Grib resource for an estimated $15M, an offer the company viewed as too good to refuse even though diamonds were outside the scope the energy company’s core business.
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