PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The share price of ASX-listed Merlin Diamonds rose by more than 14% on Tuesday after the company announced that 32 pink diamonds, totalling 6.63 ct, have been recovered from its Merlin mine, in the Northern Territory.Merlin told shareholders that the company was encouraged by the discovery of these pinks, and it was a good indicator that more significant discoverie...Read More
Canada-listed Fura Gems (TSX-V:FUR), a new gemstone mining and marketing company headed by the former COO of Gemfields, is expanding its footprint in Mozambique by acquiring nine ruby assets in the country.The company, which began operations a year ago and already owns ruby assets in the African country, said the merger of ASX-listed Mustang Resources and Regius Resources Group's properties wit...Read More
RAPAPORT... It used to be that price was determined by supply anddemand. That's no longer the case; price is now used as a marketing tool todrive sales. In a world dominated by the likes of Amazon and Zara, today'sconsumer is motivated by low prices and fast fashion. However, the assumption that fine jewelry retailers andbrands should adopt similar competitive pricing or discounting strategies iss...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swarovski has transferred its lab-grown diamond line,Diama, to its Atelier Swarovski division as part of a restructuring of itsproducts. The move comes as part of the company's efforts toconsolidate all its "created-diamond" jewelry under one brand. The category waspreviously part of Swarovski Gemstones, which includes sapphires, rubies, topaz,smoky quartz and marcasite. Under the new...Read More
RAPAPORT... Victoria McKay has resigned as chief operating officer of the London Diamond Bourse (LDB), the exchange said Monday. Executive assistant Stacey Aylott will become operationsmanager, taking over the day-to-day management of the bourse. McKay (pictured) - who held the position for six years - will remain with the boursein the short term to complete ongoing projects, such as moving the e...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai, India, said it will be holding the second edition of its Bharat Diamond Week from October 8-10. The BDB said it aims to build on the huge success of the first Bharat Diamond Week, held from April 23-25, which saw more than 1,000 visitors from India and across the world who did business with 150 Indian exhibitors of polished goods. Bharat...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The International Gemological Institute (IGI) recently held its first alumni meeting for its Italy association since the launch of the program in 2017. Designed to foster continuing education and promote professional collaboration, the meeting spotlighted achievements made by the association during its first year in market - as well as reinforced its objectives and membership...Read More
RAPAPORT... Swarovski has transferred its lab-grown diamond line,Diama, to its Atelier Swarovski division as part of a restructuring of itsproducts. The move comes as part of the company's efforts toconsolidate all its "created-diamond" jewelry under one brand. The category waspreviously part of Swarovski Gemstones, which includes sapphires, rubies, topaz,smoky quartz and marcasite. Under the new...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – In an economic environment of tight capital allocation and bank pull back from mining finance, the new tax-incentivised CCP 12J Mining Fund is going all out to raise R750-million for co-investment in ancillary project opportunities on existing mine sites.On the list of targeted project opportunities are tailings retreatment projects, mine dump retreatment pr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa Diamond Company and its partners have recovered a 114-carat diamond from the Lulo diamond project in Angola. The diamond was recovered from alluvial Mining Block 6, and is the eleventh 100+ carat diamond recovered to date and the third so far in 2018, further underlining the special large-stone nature of the Lulo diamond concession, the firm said. The diamond adds...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa is planning to become the world's largest producer ofpolished colored diamonds, with the entire mine-to-customer process handledin-house. "We think we will be able to integrate into this segment andeven dominate it," a company spokesperson told Rapaport News Sunday. "AsAlrosa is the largest diamond miner, it is reasonable to expect today [that] weare the largest miner of colored...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelry manufacturer Unique Designs is the top contender to buy the assets of Nirav Modi subsidiary Fantasy, pending final bids in the auction of the company. An affiliate of Kiran Gems, Unique Designs has offered $725,983 in cash, according to a motion filed last week by Richard Levin, the trustee overseeing Fantasy's bankruptcy case. The court papers list the bid as the "highest and...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Chinese diamond and jewelry industry is facing highimport tariffs to the US as trade tension escalates between Washington andBeijing. On July 10, the US Trade Representative has announced plans for aproposed 10% hike on products from China that have an annual trade value of $200billion, with various raw materials and accessories used in the jewelry tradelisted in President Donald T...Read More
RAPAPORT... The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has appointedPeter Meeus as chairman of its World Diamond Mark (WDM) program. Meeus - who will take over from Alex Popov - was president of the DubaiDiamond Exchange from 2009 until earlier this year, and manager of what is now the Antwerp World DiamondCentre from 1999 to 2006. He is also a special adviser to the Central AfricanRepublic's...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The first PGI Insight report by Platinum Guild International (PGI) reveals a shift in the platinum jewelry industry to a consumer-centric business model in China with pioneering players seeing improvement in business. PGI Insights offer an in-depth focus on key market trends in the global and regional platinum jewelry industry. Through this first report, PGI understands that a suc...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The First Deputy Chairman of the government of the Russian Federation - Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov has been elected as Chairman of ALROSA Supervisory Board. The Board also elected members of special-purpose committees, including the Audit committee, composed of independent directors only. Anton Siluanov has been the Chairman of ALROSA Supervisor...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Leading researchers in geology, mineralogy, diamond formation and related fields will present their latest findings at the GIA's International Gemological Symposium, Oct. 7-9 in Carlsbad, California. "Objective and independent scientific research is critical to understanding the impact of new gem discoveries, treatments, identification techniques and evolving technologies in the g...Read More
The Angolan government has granted four new prospecting concessions for gold, the Macauhub news agency has reported. All four concessions have gone to partnerships formed by the State-owned Empresa Nacional de Ferro de Angola (Ferrangol – the National Iron Company of Angola) with various private enterprises. Together, the concessions cover an area of more than 5 000 km2 and involve an invest...Read More
Contrary to the expectation that it would move towards employing a higher number of skilled personnel to catalyse modernisation and mechanisation targets, the South African mining industry has backtracked, employing a significant number of unskilled personnel instead, according to a report compiled by Africa-focused research and analysis organisation In On Africa and human resource advisory firm M...Read More
Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) said Thursday is putting up for sale a 3.14-carat, vivid pink diamond at its 2018 tender, the largest stone of its colour in the history of the annual sale of sparklers from its West Australian-based Argyle mine.The emerald-cut polished stone, named The Argyle Alpha, is one of 63 rare pink, red and violet diamonds - weighing a combined 51.48 carats - Rio expects to sale a...Read More