WINDHOEK — Namibia's diamond mining company Namdeb, equally owned by De Beers and the government, will invest 922 million dollars to extend mining operations beyond 2020, officials said Thursday.

"Namdeb will invest 1.4 billion Namibian dollars until 2017 and altogether 6.7 billion dollars (922 million dollars, 700 million euros) to take diamond mining until 2050," managing director Inge Zaamwani told reporters.

"These funds might not be raised from the Namibian capital market but possibly from beyond Namibian borders," she added.

Industry experts have predicted that reserves of the gems could be depleted by the time the De Beers mining licences expire in 2020 but the announcement signalled optimism in the future for a key export earner.

Diamond exports are still rebounding from the global economic crisis last year, which slashed Namdeb's revenue by 40 percent from 5.65 billion Namibian dollars in 2008 to 3.37 billion Namibian dollars.

Experts now say diamond production doubled in the first five months of 2010, compared to the same period of 2009.