Diamonds are a miner's best friend THE emerging middle class in Asia and the lack of new large diamond discoveries in recent years give De Beers Group, the world's largest rough diamond producer, reason for optimism and further investment despite current global economic instability. During the recent financial crisis uncertainty about consumer demand for diamonds forced major diamond producers to take drastic steps to prevent an excess supply of rough diamonds from flooding the market. De Beers, which is owned by mining giant Anglo American, cut its production in half, going from a peak of 51 million carats in 2006 to 25 million in 2009.