JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The jobs of more than one-third of the employees at De Beers Finsch diamond mine in the Northern Cape are on the line as the company restructures in order to avoid losing R200-million a year.

De Beers said on Thursday that 350 jobs out of the current complement of 903 may be shed at Finsch, which is one of six De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) mines that employ a total of 2 500 people in South Africa. DBCM is the South African arm of the global diamond business.

De Beers said that the factors impacting on Finsch's profitability included high costs, low sub-2008 diamond prices, declining Block 4 grades and rand strength.

Despite the many steps that the operation had taken to cut costs, the current financial environment continued to impact adversely on the mine's sustainability, and retrenchment would have to take place in order to ensure the mine's sustainability.

Some of the estimated 350 positions were vacancies, and a consultation process would determine the final number of employees that would be affected.

"It is therefore impossible to predict the actual number of people who may finally be affected, until the two-month consultation process is concluded," De Beers added in a media release.

The company would be exploring inter-company transfers, voluntary early retirement, voluntary retrenchment packages and other opportunities for reasonable alternative employment in order to minimise the impact on employees.

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