Alrosa has started extracting rough diamonds from a newly opened kimberlite pipe at its Lomonosov deposit in Arkhangelsk, believed to contain over 40 million tonnes of diamond-bearing ore. The pipe, known as Karpinsky-2, is the third of six at the site and was first tested in 2018 for its industrial potential.
Alrosa CEO Pavel Marinychev also reported success at the nearby Severalmaz deposit. In the first five months of the year, the company exceeded its ore production targets, improving processing efficiency and achieving a 9% volume increase, producing over 1.2 million carats of rough.
This surge in output comes as Alrosa pauses operations at smaller deposits to conserve resources. Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Finance Minister revealed that Gokhran may purchase up to $985 million worth of Alrosa rough over the next three years — offering significant support amid a downturn.
Still, the company isn't immune to the industry’s headwinds: Q1 revenue fell 42% to RUB 58.13 billion ($709M), and net profit declined 29% to RUB 14.48 billion ($176.7M).