Debswana Diamond Company will cease production activities at its Letlhakane Tailings Plant (LTP) and Jwaneng Modular Plant (JMP), effective end of March 2025.
According to the communique from the company, this decision forms part of a strategic
restructuring in response to ongoing market challenges in the global diamond industry, which has been marked by continued weakening of demand and falling prices for rough diamonds throughout 2023 and 2024.
In response to these market challenges, the Debswana Board of Directors at its March sitting approved the revision of 2025 production target to 15 million carats, down from the previously approved 18 million carats. To ensure long-term sustainability and profitability, Debswana will prioritize production from open pit operations and processing plants that treat run-of-mine ore. Consequently, the LTP and JMP will be placed under Care and Maintenance (C&M) until market conditions improve sufficiently to support additional processing capacity. Damtshaa Mine will also remain under care and maintenance.
Operational Transition and People Impact The company will redeploy all affected employees to other areas of the business, whilst a few will remain on a skeletal structure to manage the closed operations on care and maintenance. Debswana is committed to managing this transition responsibly, with full adherence to HR policies and legal frameworks, ensuring that affected employees and business partners are treated fairly and transparently throughout the process.
This strategic shift is geared towards positioning Debswana to remain resilient for the duration of the downturn and agile in response to future recovery, while continuing to create value for Botswana and its people.
