RAPAPORT... The dramatic announcement that Swatch Group will not participate in the 2019 Baselworld exhibition was not surprising, despite its shock value. For some time now, exhibitors have expressed frustration with the watch and jewelry fair. The move was significant, however, since Swatch was Baselworld's largest tenant, occupying a significant display area of the show across its 18 brands, wh...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA) has welcomed the revisions introduced by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to its Jewelry Guides. This revision, which is the Guides' first major overhaul since 1996, "primarily acknowledges technological developments that have led to existence of diamonds that are formed both below and above the ground," the IGDA said in a st...Read More
RAPAPORT PRESS RELEASE, August 1, 2018, New York... Diamond prices softened slightly in July due to a seasonal slowdown as US wholesalers closed for their summer vacations. Bargain-hunters were asking for higher discounts during the quiet period, but suppliers had little urgency to sell after a positive first half.The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI?,,?) for 1-carat diamonds slid 0.4% in July, but rema...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers Group has announced that the De Beers Consolidated Mines Proprietary Limited (DBCM) Board will close and rehabilitate the Voorspoed mine in the Free State Province in South Africa. The miner said the decision followed an "extensive, transparent and comprehensive disposal process, which involved a rigorous due diligence exercise on the bidders to acquire the mine"....Read More
(IDEX Online News) - Round diamonds saw a relatively large number of increases, particularly in 0.40-0.44 carat stones in D-K, IF-VVS2 of 2-3%, and in diamonds of 1.00-1.24 carats, E-G, VVS1-VS1, a range of colors and clarities in 2.00-2.99 carat stones, and in 5.00-5.99 carat diamonds F-H, SI3-I3 of 1-5%. There were notable decreases in diamonds of 0.23-0.29 carats, E-I, VS2, of 2-3%, and...Read More
WASHINGTON – The Hope Diamond, a rare blue diamond that is one of the world's most famous jewels, has had a complicated history, passing through the hands of monarchs and bankers and heiresses and thieves before landing for all to see at a Washington museum.The geological history of blue diamonds is even more complex, according to research published on Wednesday examining these exception...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond sales at Rio Tinto fell 5% to $323 million in thefirst half of the year, the miner reported Wednesday. Net profit for the division nearly tripled to $55 millionfrom $19 million a year ago. Production increased 9% to 9.2 million caratsprimarily due to higher output at the Argyle mine, offsetting lower recoverylevels at Diavik. Rio Tinto's development of the A21 project, an expa...Read More
De Beers, the world's largest rough diamond producer by value, said Tuesday it had decided to proceed with the closure and rehabilitation of its Voorspoed diamond mine in South Africa.The Anglo American unit said the move followed an extensive disposal process, which involved a rigorous due diligence exercise on the bidders to acquire Voorspoed.The plan was that an operator with a lower cost struc...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers will close its Voorspoed mine in South Africa,after an extensive search failed to turn up a suitable buyer, it said Tuesday. The company's South Africa business, De Beers ConsolidatedMines (DBCM), began looking for a buyer for the asset last year, afterdetermining that a lower-cost operator would have a better chance of maximizingits value. "We were committed to ensuring that...Read More
RAPAPORT... A new show will launch in New York in November, coveringjewelry-related topics and providing an inside look at products made, designed,produced and sold in the state. NYC Jewelry Week (NYCJW) is a seven-day experiencefeaturing educational programming, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, tours andcollaborations within the New York jewelry community, its organizers said. Oneof the exhibiti...Read More
RAPAPORT... Civil-society groups have lashed out at the lack of transparency in the diamond industry, claiming the trade continues to be linked to human-rights abuses, conflict finance and corruption. "Although the diamond industry is not the only sector facing these threats, it is unique in its particular unwillingness and inability to take genuine steps towards responsible business conduct," rea...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers sold $530 million of rough diamonds at its July cycleamid a seasonal slowdown in the market, the company said Tuesday. "Demand for De Beers' rough diamonds was in line withexpectations during the seasonally quieter summer period for the industry'smidstream sector," said CEO Bruce Cleaver. Revenue from the sixth sales cycle, including last week'ssight, dropped 9% from $581 mil...Read More
RAPAPORT... When is a diamond a diamond, and does it matter? Thosewere two key questions that emerged from the wide-ranging changes the FederalTrade Commission (FTC) made to its jewelry guidelines last week. In thatupdate, the US consumer agency amended its definition of a diamond, removingthe word "natural," thereby giving synthetics suppliers ammunition when arguingthat their products are t...Read More
Analysis of Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds’ Free State kimberlites indicates high abundances of diamond inclusion type chemical compositions, thereby rating these kimberlites as being of high interest in terms of their diamond-bearing potential, the company said on Tuesday.The results also indicate a prevalence of G9 and a few G10 garnets, similar to the chemical signatures present in the neig...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Following Zimbabwe's first election since the ouster of Robert Mugabe last November, counting has begun after millions of people turned out to vote in scenes that were reminiscent of those in neighboring South Africa's first free elections in 1994. Polling officials in the capital, Harare, and surrounding towns reported that between 75% and 85% of registered voters had...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers sold rough diamonds with a provisional value of $530 million in the sixth sales cycle (Global Sightholder Sales and Auction Sales) of 2018. The miner reported confirmed sales of $581 million in the fifth cycle, compared with an initial provisional figure of $575 million. Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "In the sixth sales cycle of the year, demand f...Read More
De Beers has sold $530-million worth of rough diamonds in its sixth sales cycle for the year.This is $51-million lower than the $581-million worth of rough diamonds sold in the fifth cycle of this year, and $46-million lower than the $576-million worth of rough diamonds sold in the sixth sales cycle of 2017.Advertisement“In the sixth sales cycle of the year, demand for De Beers’ rough...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Voorspoed diamond mine in the Free State is scheduled to close by year-end if the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is unable to secure, in the next 30 days, a suitable bid that will set the seal on the employment and community support that this Kroonstad-area mine provides.The decision to close the mine follows an intense nine-month expression-of-in...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers sold $530 million of rough diamonds at its July cycleamid a seasonal slowdown in the market, the company said Tuesday. "Demand for De Beers' rough diamonds was in line withexpectations during the seasonally quieter summer period for the industry'smidstream sector," said CEO Bruce Cleaver. Revenue from the sixth sales cycle, including last week'ssight, dropped 9% from $581 mil...Read More
Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) announced Monday the recovery of yet another special diamond from its 70 per cent-owned Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho.The 11.88-carat diamond was recovered from the North zone and, according to Lucapa, it is the first of its kind recovered from that section of the Mothae kimberlite pipe.In a press release, the miner said that this recovery means that special d...Read More