Diamond giant De Beers will shutter its South African diamond mine to save money

“De Beers is shuttering its South African diamond mine for two years in order to save costs, even as the diamond industry “faces plunging prices and an extreme glut,” notes Joe Weisenberg.

Bloomberg News reports:

Diamond giant De Beers plans to halt production at its South African mine for two years, as the one-time monopoly continues to wrestle with one of the deepest crises to ever hit the industry.

The $80 billion industry is under severe strain. What started as a post-pandemic slump worsened amid a pullback in Chinese luxury spending and the rising popularity of synthetic stones. Trade tensions and war in the Middle East have piled on even more pain.

De Beers has sought to lower production to try and support prices, but a glut of stones from Angola and weak demand has undermined those efforts.

The shuttering of the mine is part of the diamond giant’s ongoing cost-cutting plan.

“Diamond mines are floundering as lab-grown diamonds flood the market and prices plummet. One fifth of all diamond jewelry sold worldwide is now made using synthetic stones, including most new engagement rings in the US,” reported The Doomslayer in 2025.

While mines are producing less diamonds, laboratories are producing far more of them, resulting in diamonds being much more plentiful overall. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that:

Synthetic diamonds currently account for more than a fifth of global diamond jewelry sales, up from less than 1% in 2016…

For engagement rings, the penetration is even higher. More than half the engagement rings purchased last year in the U.S. had a lab-created diamond, a 40% increase compared with 2019….

‘Diamonds were always seen as expensive, a rich person’s asset,’ says Matt Bick, a third-generation diamond seller with a showroom on the same London block as the De Beers headquarters. ‘Now everyone can wear them.”

Some diamond mines previously closed or suspended operations, including in North America. Reuters reports:

Australian miner Burgundy Diamond Mines laid off several hundred employees and contractors and suspended operations at its Point Lake diamond mine in Canada due to record-low diamond prices….The Point Lake site in Canada‘s Northwest Territories is part of the company’s Ekati mine. Burgundy said its other site in the remote Arctic region is still operating.

“Burgundy Diamond Mines made the decision to temporarily suspend open pit mining at Point Lake, which constitutes a shift from surface mining operations in the short term,” said Ariella Calin, corporate communications manager at Burgundy Diamonds.  With global diamond prices at record lows, the Point Lake project is proving to be sub-economic.