Alrosa’s output for the full year dropped 4.6% from 2023 as it cut back amid sanctions, waning demand and depressed rough prices.
The Russian miner produced 33 million carats for the year, down from 34.6 million the year before, according to a statement by Aisen Nikolaev, head of the government for the Yakutia region. Although the lower total was planned due to global economic circumstances, the announcement comes shortly after Alrosa announced it planned to reduce production for the coming year and will lay off staff.
The company has also been forced to sell its stake in Angolan diamond mines Catoca and Luele in light of the sanctions, which will further hit its overall production. Meanwhile, Russia’s state-owned gem and precious-metal repository, Gokhran, last month purchased more than $100 million of Alrosa’s unsold rough to bail out the miner.
Despite the pressure on production and sales, Alrosa paid the Yakutia government RUB 50 billion ($484.1 million) during the year, Nikolaev noted. The miner will pay the same amount in 2025.
“The company’s financial and economic plan for 2025 anticipates an increase in contributions to the republic’s budget,” the company noted.
Alrosa has also made improvements to its deposits, CEO Pavel Marinychev explained in the statement. The miner has started construction on the fourth part of the underground project at its Aikhal site and has resumed ore extraction from the central part of its Jubilee open-pit deposit. It has also completed and received positive feedback on the engineering surveys performed at the Mir mine, which is currently awaiting reconstruction, Marinychev added.
Image: Rough diamonds. (Alrosa)
