S.African union declares dispute against De Beers

(Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday it had declared a dispute against the local unit of the world's biggest diamond producer De Beers.

The NUM, South Africa's biggest mining union, declared the dispute, the first legal step towards a strike, after wage talks deadlocked on Thursday, spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said.


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De Beers sales down, but net earnings up

(Reuters) - The world's biggest diamond producer, De Beers, released its operating and financial review for 2006 on Tuesday, saying sales by its DTC unit were down at $6.15 billion, while net earnings rose 32 percent to $730 million thanks to certain asset sales.

The sales figures confirmed data released in February, when De Beers said sales had fallen from $6.54 billion the year before to the group's second highest level on record.


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