De Beers prepared on a consolidated accounting basis, except for production, which is stated on a 100% basis except for the Gahcho Kué joint operation in Canada, which is on an attributable 51% basis. The 2023 Result Report said, 1: Total sales volumes on a 100% basis were 27.4 million carats (2022: 33.7 million carats).
Total sales volumes (100%) include De Beers Group’s joint arrangement partners’ 50% proportionate share of sales to entities outside De Beers Group from Diamond Trading Company Botswana and Namibia Diamond Trading Company.
2: Pricing for the mining business units is based on 100% selling value post-aggregation of goods. Realised price includes the price impact of the sale of non-equity product and, as a result, is not directly comparable to the unit cost.
3: Unit cost is based on consolidated production and operating costs, excluding depreciation and operating special items, divided by carats recovered.
4: Includes rough diamond sales of $3.6 billion (2022: $6.0 billion).
5: Total De Beers EBITDA margin shows mining EBITDA margin on an equity basis, which excludes the impact of non-mining activities, third‑party sales, purchases, trading downstream and corporate. 6: Other includes Element Six, brands and consumer markets, and corporate. Focussing here is mining.
At the mining front DeBeers operational performance was strong in 2023. The new Venetia underground project delivered first production in June and will ramp up over the next few years. Rough diamond production decreased to 31.9 million carats (2022: 34.6 million carats), due to planned lower production levels at Venetia as the operation transitions to underground.
In Botswana, production was broadly stable, with a 2% increase to 24.7 million carats (2022: 24.1 million carats), driven by the planned treatment of higher grade ore at Orapa. Namibia production increased by 9% to 2.3 million carats (2022: 2.1 million carats), primarily driven by a full year of production from the Benguela Gem vessel (commissioned in March 2022) and the ongoing ramp-up and expansion of the mining area at the land operations.
South Africa production decreased by 64% to 2.0 million carats (2022: 5.5 million carats), due to the planned completion of the Venetia open pit in December 2022. Venetia continues to process lower grade surface stockpiles, while the new underground project commenced operations in June, and will ramp up over the next few years as development continues.
Production in Canada was stable at 2.8 million carats (2022: 2.8 million carats), with higher throughput offset by planned treatment of lower grade ore.
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