London-listed Gem Diamonds has raised $12.1-million during the first round of its Lets?OEeng flexible tender sales process on March 26.The Lesotho-focused miner in March launched the flexible tender sales process, following a large tender that had to be cancelled owing to travel and other restrictions imposed by various governments, including in Belgium, where the tender would have been held from...Read More
Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Sunland Minerals, has been awarded six new prospecting licences by the Botswana government.The licence tenure is for a period of three years until March 31, 2023.AdvertisementThe licences cover an area of 4.32 km2 in the Central and Kgalagadi districts, colloquially known as the Kalahari.Moreover, the government has renewed four existin...Read More
Diamond producer Lucara Diamond Corporation has implemented a crisis management strategy to protect the health and wellbeing of its employees in Botswana and Canada amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Lucara's 100%-owned Karowe mine, in north-central Botswana, remains fully operational under new measures and guidelines implemented by the Botswana government earlier this week.AdvertisementThese measures...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Capital and liquidity requirements across all the markets in which it operates are continuing to be met, Standard Bank Group FD Dr Arno Daehnke said during an investor call.Daehnke disclosed that the bank was benefitting from building up increased capital levels over the last few years in line with Basel requirements. As at December 31, the group had a...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Prices for March followed a similar pattern to recent months, with no movement at all in the majority of carat, color and clarity categories and a mix of fluctuations in those which did see change. Smaller stones, (up to 0.39) both round and fancy, were at a virtual standstill.The trend among changes that were seen in the 1.00-1.24ct rounds was generally up, by around three per cen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds sold stones worth $12.1m at its first flexible tender sale, introduced as a result of coronavirus travel restrictions. Its sale of large, high quality diamonds from the Letseng mine, in Lesotho, should have taken place in Antwerp from 16 to 25 March. CEO Clifford Elphick said: The results of the initial round of the flexible tender sales process for a selection of Lets...Read More
The owner of a jewelry store was shot dead during an armed raid in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Mark Vuono, aged 69, suffered a fatal gunshot wound on Saturday afternoon (28 March).It's the first homicide of a jeweler in the United States since January 2018, according to Jewelers' Security Alliance. The alarm was raised by a customer who entered the store at 2.45pm. ...Read More
Aim-listed Vast Resources has noted that all internal processes leading to the conclusion to the Chiadzwa Community Joint Venture (JV), which were expected to be finalised during March, have not completed during the month.This is owing to the Zimbabwe government having declared a 21-day lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, beginning March 30.AdvertisementVast indicates that it still expe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Emerald Expositions has canceled its Couture and Antique Jewelry & Watch shows amid restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The organizer scrapped the two events due to a government shutdown of unnecessary business operations, a moratorium on large gatherings, and travel restrictions, it said Tuesday. They were scheduled to run from June 1 to 5 alongside the JCK Las Vegas an...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has furloughed a number of its employees to cut costs and ensure the long-term sustainability of its business."Due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 and the closure of our stores, we have moved quickly to proactively reduce expenses...to preserve liquidity," David Bouffard, Signet's vice president of corporate affairs, told Rapaport News Tuesday. "In addition...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has canceled its third Sight of the year and is allowing buyers to defer 100 per cent of their purchases. The move was announced yesterday (Monday 30 March), the day the Sight had been due to start in Gaborone, Botswana. Earlier this month world's largest producer of rough diamonds indicated it was hopeful the Sight would go still ahead, saying "customers...Read More
Tiny diamond particles could be used in a new generation of virus-killing face masks. Researchers believe a coating of salt crystals and nano-diamonds will actually destroy viruses and micro organisms, rather than simply filtering them out. Master Dynamic Limited (MD), a leading Hong Kong material analysis and nanotechnology company is developing the ant-viral mask as coronavirus demand soars. "Wh...Read More
Diamond miner Petra Diamonds reports that Peter Hill will succeed founder Adonis Pouroulis as nonexecutive chairperson as of March 31.The miner previously noted in its interim results on February 17 that additional board changes would also take place this calendar year. These include independent nonexecutive director Varda Shine assuming the role of chairperson of the remuneration committee, ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra saw rough prices slump by almost a quarter at tenders in South Africa and Antwerp earlier this month, as demand evaporated. Bidding, especially for larger stones was "severely depressed and opportunistic," said the mining company, which operates in Botswana and Tanzania, as well as South Africa. The vast majority of the goods were sold, with only a few strategic, higher...Read More
RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has agreed to a $240 million settlement relating to a lawsuit filed by shareholders. The suit claims the company misled investors regarding allegations of sexual discrimination against its executives and the health of its credit program. Under the settlement agreement, Signet - which owns the Kay, Zales and Jared banners, along with online jeweler James Allen - wil...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other hard-luxury items in Hong Kong slumped to an all-time low in February due to the coronavirus, according to government data.Revenues from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts dropped 79% year on year to HKD 1.56 billion ($200.6 million) for the month as tourists stayed away and local demand fell. Sales in all retail categories declined 44% to...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamcor Mining has shut its South African mine amid the government-imposed 21-day lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19.The company has put the Krone-Endora at Venetia deposit on care and maintenance until April 16, it said Monday. It has also implemented cost-saving measures wherever possible, and has limited or canceled all rough-diamond tenders."During these unprecedented tim...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gemfields has closed the majority of its business amid the coronavirus pandemic, and is unsure when it will hold its next tender."The turmoil stemming from COVID-19 [will have] a significant impact on [our] operations, revenues and business during 2020, and possibly beyond," the company said Monday.The miner has shut all but critical operations at its Kagem emerald mine in Zambia...Read More
RAPAPORT... S&P Global Ratings has lowered Botswana's credit rating, citing weaker diamond revenues because of the current global recession.The credit agency downgraded the country's long-term sovereign credit rating to "BBB+" from "A-," indicating it saw a higher risk level for investors. An upgrade is unlikely in the next two years."Botswana's weakening fiscal and external balance sheet...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH expects its revenue for the first quarter to drop as the coronavirus outbreak has led to the closure of many of its stores."The measures taken by public authorities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in the closure of production sites and stores in several countries, which will have an impact on the group's results," the luxury group said last week. The company - t...Read More