Diamond company Namdeb, jointly owned by De Beers and the Namibian government, says construction of the $27.3 million Sendelingsdrif mine located near the Orange River is making good progress. Brand Manager Pauline Thomas told The Economist that the ramp-up stage of the operation is expected by the end of this year, and that full production is expected to start early next year.



Production from Sendelingsdrif is expected to replace that from the Daberas mine, producing 45,000 carats annually and extending Orange River operations beyond 2022. Namdeb has been working to extend the life of the low grade but high value Daberas mine where it recovers 35,000-50,000 carats from 2.8 million metric tons of ore per year.



Against the background of volatility in global markets, Namdeb says it remains cautiously optimistic in the short to medium term and expects the same level of production as last year of around 560,000 carats from land-based operations. Besides the Orange River mining area, Namdeb said it continues to work on life of mine extension projects which are set to extend the life of conventional land operations to at least 2023.