A report that Anglo American is looking to sell its majority stake in diamond miner De Beers for $1 billion shows just how rough things have gotten lately for purveyors of the sparkly gemstone.

While the London-based Anglo American has long sought to unload its underperforming diamond business as cheaper, lab-grown diamonds have softened demand for mined stones, the $1 billion sales price being floated, according to a Bloomberg report, looks particularly low.

Anglo currently has an 85% stake in De Beers, with the government of Botswana holding the remaining 15%. While Anglo has had a stake in De Beers for decades, it became the majority owner back in 2011 when it purchased an additional 40% from the Oppenheimer family for $5.1 billion, bringing its total ownership up to 85%.

A $1 billion price for Anglo's entire stake represents a decrease in value of more than 90%, without taking inflation into account.

Anglo's revenue from De Beers has fallen sharply from its 2022 peak of $6.2 billion to $3.5 billion in 2025, according to company filings. Whereas its core copper and iron ore businesses accounted for the vast majority of its nearly $4 billion operating earnings in 2025, it lost half a billion on its De Beers diamond business, which has a carrying value of $2.3 billion.

Global Diamond Consortium -- a private bidding group led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny that also includes government stakes by Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, among others -- is the preferred bidder discussing the deal with Anglo, Bloomberg added.

Both Anglo American and Global Diamond Consortium declined to comment. Shares of Anglo American, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, closed down less than 1% on Wednesday.