BHP, Barrick Gold, Teck Resources and Antofagasta are a few of the major mining companies that, together with equipment suppliers and universities, have helped develop global guidelines on automation.The document, published this week by Canada-based Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG), outlines a framework for miners to follow when considering adding autonomous equipment to their operations. It a...Read More
Anglo American's De Beers is stepping up efforts to remove conflict diamonds from the market by expanding a pilot program in Sierra Leone, which is set to help trace the route of precious stones dug up by small miners in the country.The world's largest rough diamond producer by value said Wednesday the decision to scale up its GemFair trial was made to give more artisanal and small-scale miners (A...Read More
Alrosa's (MCX:ALRS) International mine produced this month the largest gem-quality diamond seen in the past two years.In a press release, the world's top diamond miner by output revealed that the stone weighs 118.91 carats, displays a light yellow overblown, has salient edges, one of them with cleavage, and has small inclusions in the central zone.The International deposit was first discovered in...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has updated its Code of Practices (COP) to include silver jewelry and color gemstones, significantly expanding the reach of the standards organization.The code, which defines due-diligence and social-responsibility requirements for the industry, also outlines new requirements for the detection of laboratory-grown diamonds, the group announce...Read More
RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales dropped 6% in the fourth fiscalquarter amid a higher number of purchases for lower-priced products. The Hong Kong-based jeweler sold higher volumes during the period, but not enough to negate the drop in its average selling price. Improved market conditions helped ease the decline compared to the third quarter, it noted last week."Same-store sales of the gro...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Natural Color Diamond Association (NCDIA) has appointedthree members to its 2019 advisory board. They will be responsible for supporting and guiding the organization'sexecutive committee, NCDIA said last week. The new advisory board members are: Henry Ho, founder and chairman emeritus of the AsianInstitute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS). He also operates a gemological schooland la...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has announced thehonorees for its Awards for Excellence, with its mentorship prize going to aman for the first time. Its Visionary Awards recognize females who have taken on aleadership role within the industry. The ceremony takes place in New York inJuly. "Our Visionary Awards will go to women who have beentrailblazers, and the driving forces of...Read More
The Bharat Diamond Bourse BDB is considering the lifting of a ban on the trade of lab-grown diamonds LGDs). "We have received representations from a number of our members...and we will discuss this [request] at the board level," said BDB President Anoop Mehta. The BDB banned the trade in LGDS four years ago, to prevent the mixing of LGDS with natural diamonds by unscrupulous diamond merchants. Thi...Read More
The International Diamond Council (IDC) has elected Julien Drybooms as its new Chairman. Paul van der Steen, also of Antwerp, is the new Vice-Chair. "I am very pleased to take on this important position." said Drybooms. He expressed his gratitude to the IDC and its founding member organizations, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Associ...Read More
GemFair, a pilot project developed by De Beers Group, that aims to create a secure and transparent route to market for ethically sourced artisinal and small-scale mined (ASM) diamonds, is scaling up its operations in Sierra Leone to give more miners the opportunity to benefit from the opportunities the program offers. The GemFair pilot provides ASM diamond miners with access to De Beers Group's i...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto has recovered a 28.84 ct gem quality white diamond from its Argyle diamond mine, in Western Australia, marking one of the largest gem quality white diamonds in its 35-year history.Named Argyle Octavia™ in recognition of its octahedral shape, this rough diamond will be sold by tender in Antwerp later this year.Advertisement“We are...Read More
The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has announced its 2019 honorees for the association's annual Awards for Excellence gala, to be held Monday, July 29, 2019. On the occasion, it will honor Carol Pennelli, president, David Yurman; Stellene Volandes, editor in chief, Town & Country magazine; and Mark Hanna, chief marketing officer, Richline Group. "Our Visionary Awards will go to wo...Read More
The US Commerce Department reported that in March, retail sales had increased by with 1.6 percent, indicating that this was the biggest increase since September 2017. In February, retail sales had dropped 0.2 percent Economists that were polled by Reuters had forecast that retail sales would accelerate only 0.9 percent in March. The growth in retail sales was 3.6 percent compared to March 2018....Read More
The Natural Color Diamond Association (NCDIA) announced it will stage a seminar and panel discussion about "Diamonds from Canada's Arctic Circle" at the upcoming JCK Show in Las Vegas. The NCDIA seminar's panelists will be Jim Pounds, Executive Vice President of Dominion Diamond Mines and Reid Mackie, Vice President of Mountain Province Diamonds. Rob Bates, Senior Editor of JCK Mag...Read More
A pilot project that creates a secure and transparent route to market for ethically sourced artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) diamonds is scaling up its operations in Sierra Leone to give more miners the opportunity to benefit from the programme, diamond multinational De Beers Group, which is owned by diversified mining group Anglo American, said on Wednesday.The project, called GemFair, provi...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has updated its Code of Practices (COP) to include silver jewelry and color gemstones, significantly expanding the reach of the standards organization.The code, which defines due-diligence and social-responsibility requirements for the industry, also outlines new requirements for the detection of laboratory-grown diamonds, the group announce...Read More
In November 2015, Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corp. announced that it had recovered a 1,111-carat diamond - the second largest, gem quality stone ever found in the world - from its Karowe mine in Botswana. Following a country-wide contest, the stone was named Lesedi La Rona - meaning "our light".Lucara put the Lesedi La Rona up for sale, but initially felt the price offered was too low. The min...Read More
Rio Tinto's (ASX, LON: RIO) iconic Argyle mine in Western Australia has yielded one of the largest rare, gem-quality white diamonds in its 35-year history.The 28.84-carat stone, named Argyle Octavia for its unusual octahedral shape, was found in March, the miner said.The octahedral-shaped 28-carat stone is one of the largest ever produced by Rio Tinto's Argyle diamond mine, located in east Kimberl...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa will deepen its Akhail underground deposit, extendingthe mine's life by 10 years and adding 20 million carats to the resource. The project will cost the Russia-based miner RUB 10 billion($156.9 million), and will be carried out in phases starting from 2020, the company said Monday. Oreextraction from the lower depths is expected to begin in 2027 and continueuntil 2044. "The pro...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto's Argyle mine has yielded the largest gem-qualitywhite diamond in its 35-year history, the miner said Tuesday. The 28.84-carat stone, named Argyle Octavia for itsoctahedral shape, was discovered at the Australia-located mine last month. "This discovery...is a testament to the extraordinary Argyleorebody that continues to deliver these miracles of nature, even as it nears the...Read More