An extremely rare, almost seismic, event just occurred in the SA mining industry - the first production has been delivered from a new mine built by an old company.

The mine in question is De Beers' Venetia operation in Limpopo, which was formerly open pit but has been transformed into an underground facility.

Open pit operations at Venetia ceased in December 2022 after more than 30 years of production. Construction of the underground section - at a cost of $2.2-billion, the biggest investment in South Africa's diamond sector in decades - began in 2012. It is now 70% complete and has recorded its first production.

"The highly mechanised underground operation will deliver up to seven million tonnes of kimberlite ore per year, to produce between 4.5 million and 5.5 million carats of diamonds annually," De Beers, a unit of Anglo American, said in a statement.

The mine is expected to operate until at least 2046 and employs 4,300 people, making it an economic lifeline for its host communities, the Musina and Blouberg municipalities.

This, it must be said, is an extremely rare, almost seismic, event for the South African mining industry - the first production being delivered from a new mine built by an old company.

Investment and consequently production in South Africa's mining industry have been declining for decades in the face of ill-conceived regulations, policy uncertainty, labour...