De Beers to Shut Voorspoed Mine

RAPAPORT... De Beers will close its Voorspoed mine in South Africa,after an extensive search failed to turn up a suitable buyer, it said Tuesday. The company's South Africa business, De Beers ConsolidatedMines (DBCM), began looking for a buyer for the asset last year, afterdetermining that a lower-cost operator would have a better chance of maximizingits value. "We were committed to ensuring that any potential futureoperator would not only have the required technical and financial capability,but also values that are aligned with those of DBCM," said Phillip Barton, CEOof DBCM. "Unfortunately, we have not been able to identify a bidderthat met the necessary criteria, and so we have reluctantly taken the decisionto close the operation in a responsible manner, as it is no longer economicallyviable for DBCM to operate the mine," he continued. While De Beers has stated its intention to close the mine, theDepartment of Mineral Resources (DMR) - with which De Beers is consulting - asked theminer to manage the closure alongside a separate process during which the DMRwill conduct a search for a potential operator to acquire and run the mine. The search will run from August 1 to 31. Failing anappropriate offer, the mine, which is inKroonstad, Free State, will close by the end of the year. Voorspoed is one of the miner's two South African projects.The second, Venetia mine, is located in Limpopo Province. The company hasrecently invested $2 billion to transition that asset to an underground miningventure, which will extend its operating life into the 2040s.