Windhoek — "Relative to the levels produced in the corresponding period of 2008, as the world economic crisis continues impacting on demand, lower diamond production is expected during the remaining quarters of 2009," the bank said.

Namdeb's diamond production rose by more than 100% in the second quarter following a production holiday at the company. Namdeb underwent a production holiday late last year, which continued early this year. The production holiday was a result of the global credit crisis, which saw the world's leading economies crash and a reduced consumer demand for diamonds.

Latest figures released by the Bank of Namibia show that quarter on quarter diamond production rose significantly by 116% during the second quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter.

The bank said the increase was attributed to the fact that on-shore mining operations resumed in the second quarter of 2009 after the production holiday since the fourth quarter of 2008.

The bank said diamond production declined by 48% in the second quarter of 2009 when compared to the same quarter of 2008.

"Relative to the levels produced in the corresponding period of 2008, as the world economic crisis continues impacting on demand, lower diamond production is expected during the remaining quarters of 2009," the bank said.

The bank said production of gold bullion at AngloGold's Navachab mine declined by 18.5% when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2008. Quarter on quarter, gold bullion production declined by 33.1% from 613 kg in the first quarter of 2009 to 410 kg in the second quarter of 2009, the lowest in three years.

"This resulted from operational problems experienced by the mine during the second quarter of 2009," the bank said.

The bank said zinc concentrate production increased by 9.3% during the second quarter of 2009 when compared to the preceding quarter. Year on year, production on the other hand declined by 3.2% in the second quarter of 2009, from 25 297 tonnes in the second quarter of 2008.

The bank said production of refined zinc rose by 2.1% and 1% on a quarterly and yearly basis respectively to 38 220 tonnes.

"The high levels of production that continued since the second quarter of 2009, amidst the slowdown in the world reflects that zinc mining has really supported initiatives to cushion labour shedding in the mining sector," the bank said.

The bank said production of copper blister increased significantly on a yearly basis during the second quarter of 2009, with output rising by 25.1 percent to 4737 tonnes in the second quarter of 2009.

"The rise in the production of copper blister continued to be mainly driven by the importing of copper concentrates for the processing at the Custom Smelter. However on a quarter on quarter, production contracted by 3.7% during the second quarter of 2009," he said.

Production of uranium declined during the second quarter of 2009 by 2% from 1335.2 tonnes in the first quarter this was as a result of a 14 day planned shut down at Paladin's Energy's Langer Heinrich mine, the bank said.