Anglo American gets approval for diamond recovery vessel

Miner Anglo American confirmed on Thursday that De Beers and the Government of the Republic of Namibia have approved the construction of its custom-built diamond recovery vessel.

Debmarine Namibia, a joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian Government, will add the seventh vessel to its fleet at an expected total capital cost of $468m, of which $234m will be attributable to Anglo American.

The vessel was expected to begin production in 2022 with the capacity to add 500,000 carats of annual production, a 35% increase compared to Debmarine Namibia's current levels.

Chief executive Mark Cutifani said: "The addition of this custom-built vessel for the Debmarine Namibia joint venture will bring numerous benefits - in terms of De Beers' production profile by value and volume, the technologies that can be deployed from the outset to deliver greater efficiency and productivity, and sustained economic benefits for Namibia."

At 0850 BST, Anglo American shares were up 1.26% to 1,938.20p.