Mining Weekly quotes diamond producer Debswana as saying that global demand for diamonds has improved "significantly" since the beginning of the year leading to a recovery in prices a few weeks ago.

Nevertheless Managing Director Blackie Marole noted that Debswana - a joint venture between giant diamond producer De Beers and the Botswana government - will produce 20 million carats of diamonds this year in comparison to its usual yearly output of 33 million.

Marole cautioned that despite a rise in rough diamond prices it is too soon to tell whether this increase constitutes a recovery of confidence among Western consumers or the replenishment of stocks in global diamond and jewelry industries.

Mining Weekly quotes Marole: "In America, yes, we are seeing demand, but we won't know until after Christmas maybe whether it's final consumer demand or simply restocking demand."

In the wake of last year's financial crisis, Debswana was forced to close some of its diamond mines for several months at the beginning of this year.