De Beers Marine Namibia aims for 1.05 million carats in 2007.(FACETS)

De Beers Marine Namibia has set a production target of 1.05 million carats of rough diamonds in 2007, said Peter Cook, a captain on the m.v. Debmar Pacific, one of the company's five mining ships, as quoted in the Namibia Economist.

The company is 70 percent owned by De Beers and 30 percent owned by Namdeb, the 50-50 joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government. In 2003, it produced 602,000 carats of rough, rising to 840,000 carats in 2004, 920,000 carats in 2005--greater than land-based diamond production in the country that year--and 1.018 million carats in 2006. ...