Russian mining giant Alrosa will produce more than 36 million carats this year and next year, compared with 34.4 million carats in 2012, according to the firm’s preliminary estimates. The rise in production is due to the purchase of the OJSC Nizhne-Lenskoe operation, the increased diamond grades at the Yubileynaya pipe and an increase in output at the Mir underground mine.



The diamond company forecasts “a stable balance between demand and supply on the rough diamond market with a potential gradual growth in rough diamond prices of 2-3 percent throughout 2014”.



The miner said that in the mining sphere its plans for 2014 include the completion of the construction of the open-pit mine at the Botuobinskaya pipe in the Nyurba Mining and Processing Division, where diamond mining is to start in 2015.



It will start work on the Udachny underground mine, and put into operation the Ebelyakh and Ruchey Gusiny placers at OJSC Almazy Anabara, and to launch at full capacity of three million tons of ore per year the second part of the processing plant of the Lomonosovsky Mining and Processing Division at OJSC Severalmaz.