JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer, said it could cut around 40 percent of its workforce at one of its mines due to weak prices for the gems and the stronger rand.

Photo: AFP

De Beers, 45 percent owned by Anglo American Plc said it could cut around 350 of 870 jobs at Finsch mine, which is being restructured. The group said it could lose about 200 million rand a year unless there were changes.

The diamond miner also said the strength of the rand against the dollar and high operational costs were also to blame. South African mining firms sell their minerals in dollars but pay their costs in rand.

"We are entering into a consultation period with employees. We are looking at turning the mine to profitability," De Beers' spokesman Tom Tweed said.

A spokesman for the Solidarity union, Jaco Kleynhans, said De Beers had served notice of the redundancies.

"Solidarity maintains that De Beers will have to provide critical answers because the revival in the diamond industry makes it seem that the retrenchments at the company are unnecessary," Solidarity said in a statement.

De Beers employs 2,500 workers at six mine in South Africa.