Minerals Council South Africa was in the process of developing a draft exploration strategy to present to the Council for Geosciences (CGS) and the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE), Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter told attendees of the Afriforesight Future of Metals Conference earlier this month.The Minerals Council has also established an Exploration Leadership Forum to assist...Read More
Diamond miner De Beers has provided a grant of €288 999, or R4-million, to a Limpopo-based company called Erada Technology Alliance to aid in its development of a technology focused on reducing the global malaria burden.Erada is pioneering work on the world’s first-ever saliva-based rapid test for diagnosing and identifying malaria – known as Saliva-based Malaria Asymptomatic and...Read More
Supplierspreparing for Hong Kong show amid uncertainties about buyer attendance. WeakChinese sentiment due to trade war and yuan depreciation (-4% in Aug. to CNY 7.1/$1).Tourist spending declines, with Tiffany & Co. 2Q sales -3% to $1B, earnings-6% to $136M. Chow Sang Sang 1H retail revenue +1% to $1.1B, profit +2% to $78Mafter strong start to 2019, but double-digit slowdown when Hong Kong pro...Read More
Activity subdued, withmany businesses closed for Jain Paryushan festival. Some US, Chinese andIsraeli buyers looking for bargains from cash-strapped Indian suppliers.Polished inventory starting to decline due to reduced manufacturing. Still alot of available lower-quality goods - brown, green, milky (BGM) and diamonds withfluorescence - that are not easy to sell. Dealers considering supplyrequirem...Read More
RAPAPORT... An Art Deco Cartier bracelet from a prominent femalecollector is set to go under the hammer for $2 million to $3 million atSotheby's November Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva. The center stone is a 47.07-carat, royal-blue Burmesesapphire with high clarity, cut in a cabochon shape, flanked by twopear-shaped, white diamonds weighing 9.27 carats and 8.60 carats. The brac...Read More
RAPAPORT...India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) isconsidering a new membership category for lab-grown-diamond traders in afurther attempt to keep better tabs on the trade. The organization requires companies to choose a productcategory - known as a "panel" - when becoming a member. While firms dealing inlab-grown diamonds previously selected "synthetic stones," which covers a...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jeweler Chow Sang Sang will open around 60 new stores in mainland China by the end of the year following strong sales in the countryin the first half. "There is room forgrowth by means of product, services and brand differentiation," the companysaid Wednesday. Improvements in China for the six months ending June 30 helped offset lower sales in the Hong Kong market...Read More
Quoting an official source, the Xinhua news agency reported that Angola started will be running its first roadshow for the acquisition of rights for prospection and exploitation of diamond, iron and phosphate in the country, in which countries and regions including Brazil and South Africa are taking part in the maiden event taking place in Luanda. Reportedly, the Angolan government decided roadsho...Read More
RAPAPORT... A roadshow launched to attract investors inAngolan mining surpassed expectations, with more than 230 companiesexpressing interest in acquiring a share of the five concessions on offer. The Angolan government decided to privatize thedeposits - including two diamond sites - in an effort to increase transparency, theMinistry of Mineral Resources and Oil said Wednesday. "The fact th...Read More
A sample page of the Gem Color Academy's Colored Stone Grading Course Notes, which can be consulted online. Gemewizard, a leading provider of digital solutions for the analysis, description, pricing and trading of color in gemstones and colored diamonds, has inaugurated the Gem Color Academy, its online educational arm that will provide professional-level knowledge and experience for t...Read More
The Bonas brokerage firm will hold its fourth colored gemstone auction Traditionally a diamond tender house, the company will present about 500 lots of colored gemstones at the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel from Saturday, September 14, to Wednesday, September 18, 2019, parallel to the September Hong Kong Gem and Jewellery Fair. The exclusive tender features approximately 500 lots of rubies and...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales at Tiffany & Co. slipped in the second quarter, aspurchases by foreign tourists decreased in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Revenue fell 3% to $1.05 billion year on year in the threemonths ending July 31, while comparable-store sales - at branches open for atleast a year - slipped 4%, the jeweler said Wednesday. Profit dropped 6% to$136.3 million. Foreign tourists spent less...Read More
RAPAPORT... Senior vice president and chief marketing officer KathrynKimmel will leave the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) after 29 years. A third-generation jewelry-industry member, Kimmel worked inretail, manufacturing and various other fields within the trade before joiningthe GIA. During her time with the organization, she developed its outreachcampaign to help consumers understand the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Llewellyn Delport has stepped down as CEO ofTrans Hex following continued operating losses and uncertainty about thecompany's future, it said Tuesday. Delport, who has been with the South Africa-based minersince 2004, will leave August 31. Board chairman Marco Wentzel will head thecompany until it finds a replacement. Last month, Trans Hex issued a warning about its ability...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' rough-diamond sales plunged 44% year on year thismonth as customers rejected goods or exercised the miner's buyback option. Sales fell to $280 million in the seventh sales cycle of theyear, as sightholders continued to struggle with weak retail demand and anoversupply of rough in the manufacturing and trading sectors. However, thatfigure was 12% higher than the $250 mill...Read More
RAPAPORT... Net imports of diamonds to the US dropped to their lowest value on record during the first half of 2019, as in-bound shipments fell at a faster rate than exports. The country's net diamond account - a measure of total imports of rough and polished minus total exports - declined 52% to $802 million, a level unmatched in 30 years of data archived by Rapaport News. Polished imports f...Read More
The Diamond Development Initiative announced the appointment of Ian Rowe as its new Executive Director, with effect from September 2, 2019. His appointment follows the departure of Dorothee Gizenga, DDI's founding Executive Director, who will now take on a new role as Regional Director to lead DDI's expansion in Africa. She'll be based in her home country, in Kinshasa, DRC. DDI'...Read More
The Diamond Club West Coast, one of the three diamond bourses affiliated to the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) in the USA, hosted a delegation from the GIA at its monthly luncheon meeting. An impressive number of the DCWC membership came to the bourse on South Hill Street in Los Angeles to meet and listen to Phillip Yantzer, Vice President of Laboratory Operations at GIA. Yantzer expl...Read More
Management of the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair said that preparations for what is known as world's leading jewelry marketplace - are in full swing. The event will be held from September 16 to 20 at the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) and from September 18 to 22 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Show organizer Informa Markets said that beyond the show floor, the...Read More
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) announced that its senior vice president and chief marketing officer Kathryn Kimmel will retire from GIA at the end of August, after 29 years with the organization. Kimmel played a key role in shaping the Institute's domestic and international marketing, public relations and communications outreach efforts. She steered the launch of GIA's digita...Read More