Debmarine Namibia to add seventh vessel
The
new custom-built diamond recovery vessel
Likely
to begin production by 2022!
Anglo
American plc announces the approval by Debmarine Namibia, a 50:50 joint venture
between De Beers Group and the Government of the Republic of Namibia, of the
construction of a new custom-built diamond recovery vessel.
At
an expected total capital cost of $468 million ($234 million attributable to
Anglo American), this new vessel will become the seventh in the Debmarine
Namibia fleet, expected to begin production in 2022 with the capacity to add
500,000 carats of annual production, a 35% increase above Debmarine Namibia’s
current levels.
Mark
Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, 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.
“This
highly attractive investment offers a three-year payback, a more than 25% IRR
and an EBITDA margin of more than 60% – typical of the high quality of our
brownfield growth options. We will continue allocating appropriate levels of
capital in a disciplined manner across Anglo American’s wider organic pipeline
of near- and medium-term growth opportunities, including the world-class
Quellaveco copper development in Peru, which we expect to, contribute towards
our 20-25% production growth by 2023.”
Bruce
Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, added: “Some of the highest quality diamonds in
the world are found at sea off the Namibian coast. With this investment we will
be able to optimise new technology to find and recover diamonds more
efficiently and meet growing consumer demand across the globe.”
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