Namdeb, the diamond-mining venture between De Beers and Namibia, got approval from the government and labor unions to halt production for three months.

The company “has the necessary permissions and mandates to temporarily stop production as planned,” spokeswoman Lynette Gould said in an e-mail today. Employees will receive full pay during the period and Namdeb is in talks with unions about holiday allowances, she said.

Namdeb will temporarily halt production from the beginning of April to cut costs following a slump in diamond demand, it said March 16. De Beers has been cutting output since the beginning of the year as jewelry sales plunged.

Anglo American Plc and the Oppenheimer family both own 45 percent of De Beers, with the rest owned by Botswana.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a0v6qOtVj9Rs&refer=africa