Namdeb, a joint venture of the Namibian government and De Beers, intends to extend the life of diamond mines located in the South African country.
Bloomberg agency quoted the statement of Namdeb General Manager Riaan Burger that the company intends to conduct diamond mining at the Elizabeth Bay, Southern Coastal and Daberasup mines until 2035. Recently, Namdeb mining licenses were extended for 15 years.
"We can extend the period of validity of the license and the period of development of concessions if we correctly allocate costs. When optimizing new technologies, I'm sure we will be able to achieve even better results, "Berger said.
In 2013, Namdeb received about 600,000 carats of diamonds on the ground diamond deposits, while the development of marine concessions gave it 1.16 million carats, reports Bloomberg.
In the meantime, Namgeb CEO Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi told reporters that her company is losing 1,600 carats per day from planned production due to a workers strike that began last Friday.
Namdeb employees demand a 15% wage increase and additional education and medical care benefits. Namdeb could raise wages by 10%, but the union rejected this offer.