RAPAPORT... ALROSA's supervisory board approved its 2015 budget and confirmed preliminary results for 2014. ALROSA anticipates having produced 36.1 million carats as of December 31, while total sales of rough and polished diamonds will have exceeded $5 billion. In 2015, ALROSA will continue to focus on its core diamond business and withdraw from nine businesses that are not in scope. ALROSA anticipates that production will improve to 38.2 million carats due, in part, to increased ore mining at the Mir and Udachny underground mines. ALROSA also expects to reach design capacity at the Internatsionalny underground mine and begin production on the Botuobinskaya and Karpinskogo-1 pipes. Aggregate rough diamond sales in 2015 should reach about 40 million carats, according to ALROSA. The board approved ALROSA's long-term development program, which extends to 2023 and anticipates increasing rough diamond production up to 41 million carats.
|