JOHANNESBURG -(Dow Jones)- Diamond producer De Beers SA has settled on a 12% pay increase for workers this year, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said Thursday.

The union said it had demanded a 15% increase, while the company initially offered a 10.4% rise.

"It is a wonderful offer given that it is a one-year agreement. We will negotiate further next year," Peter Bailey, NUM chief negotiator at De Beers, said.

Bailey said the issue of consumer inflation, which has accelerated in recent months and has been above the South African central bank's mandated target range for 14 months running, would be sorted out in 2009 wage talks.

De Beers is the world's largest producer and marketer of rough diamonds. The Johannesburg-based company is 45% owned by Anglo American PLC (NASDAQ-SMALL:AAUK) (AAUK), 40% by the Oppenheimer family and 15% by the government of Botswana.

Company Web site: www.debeersgroup.com

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +27 11 783 7848; robb.stewart@ dowjones.com

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires   06-26-08 1207   Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.