Mine Closures Hit Alrosa Production

RAPAPORT… Alrosa’s rough-diamond production fell 7% in 2018 amid the
closure of two of its assets, the miner said Thursday.



Output for the year dropped to 36.7 million carats, as the
company was no longer carrying out open-pit mining at the Udachnaya pipe. The
Mir mine, which shut in August 2017 after a flood that killed eight
employees, also remains closed.


The Russian miner reported sales volume of 38.1 million
carats for the year, an 8% decrease. However, sales value rose 6% to $4.51
billion, as the average price jumped 21% to $164 per carat.


Fourth-quarter production rose 2% year on year to 10.3
million carats, with higher output at Alrosa’s underground assets outweighing the seasonal suspension of production at the miner’s alluvial deposits, it said.
The company sold 9 million carats of rough. That included 5.3 million carats of gem-quality rough, at an average price of $153 per carat. By
value, total sales dropped 6% to $845
million for the period.


The miner’s rough-diamond inventory was 17 million carats at the
end of 2018, down 6% from a year earlier.


Alrosa plans to produce 38 million carats in 2019, a 4%
increase from the previous year, as it ramps up output at its Severalmaz asset
and launches production it its new Verkhne-Munskoye deposit, it said.


Image: Rough diamonds from the Mir underground mine. (Alrosa)