RAPAPORT... New York-based Global Diamond Group has refused to return a 30-carat pink diamond in an attempt to force the stone's majority owner into a buyoutdeal, according to a lawsuit.Global, which has the diamond on memo, held the stone"hostage" so that L.J. West Diamonds would buy its 15% stake in the diamond, L.J. West alleged in a June 14 filing at the Supreme Court of the State of NewYork....Read More
RAPAPORT... Researchers in Antwerp have developed fully automatedpolishing technology that, they claim, will make the production process 10 to20 times faster. The new equipment, Fenix, will take an hour and a half tocarry out work that currently takes manufacturers a full day, the Antwerp WorldDiamond Centre (AWDC) said Monday. The Scientific and Technological ResearchCenter for Diamonds (WTOCD),...Read More
RAPAPORT... Richline Group has promoted three team members to executivepositions in its jewelry division, following the appointment of Dave Meleski as CEO. Bobby Kempler (pictured, right) will take on the newly created role ofpresident of the jewelry segment, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned manufacturersaid last week. Kempler joined Richline in 2017 after its acquisition of SamuelAaron...Read More
LONDON – Despite a partial lifting of a ban on its diamond exports, the Central African Republic (CAR) is struggling to restore sales and seeing only a fraction of the tax revenue it once did, its mining minister said in an interview.As a member of the 81-nation Kimberley Process which certifies ethical diamond exports, CAR was banned from exporting diamonds in 2013 after rebels seized power...Read More
RAPAPORT... New York-based Global Diamond Group has refused to return a 30-carat pink diamond in an attempt to force the stone's majority owner into a buyoutdeal, according to a lawsuit.Global, which has the diamond on memo, held the stone"hostage" so that L.J. West Diamonds would buy its 15% stake in the diamond, L.J. West alleged in a June 14 filing at the Supreme Court of the State of NewYork....Read More
The Minerals Council South Africa, an industry lobby group, said on Sunday it does not support some elements in the latest draft of an industry charter, including a stipulation that one percent of core profit is paid to communities and employees.South Africa plans to raise black ownership at permit-holding mining companies to 30 percent from 26 percent within five years, the draft showed on Friday...Read More
South Africa's Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Sunday that 20 out of 45 mining deaths reported since the start of 2018 have taken place at Sibanye-Stillwater's (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL) mining sites. To date, #SibanyeStillwater operations are responsible for 20 of the 45 fatalities reported since the beginning of the year. It, therefore, cannot be business as usual in how the Regula...Read More
RAPAPORT... China's Shenzhen Rough Diamond Exchange (SRDE) hosted anIndia Diamond Week to promote trade between the two countries.The June 13 to 15 event - in partnership with India's Gem& Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) - drew 20 Indian diamondmanufacturers and more than 100 jewelry producers, retailers and diamondcompanies from Shenzhen and other regions of China. Participating In...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has launched a new manufacturing center in Bangkok, Thailand,aiming to speed up production and comply with consumers' sustainability demands. The facility, named Triple A, will produce more than 1.5million pieces of jewelry per week, and shorten production time to four weeksfrom the current five to eight weeks, Pandora said Friday. "We are very proud to celebrate the official o...Read More
RAPAPORT... Markette Six has launched as a secure online platform for trading new and pre-owned jewelry, watches and gems. The website - founded by Justin and Heather Knapp (pictured) - iscurrently live for retailers and jewelers to begin listing items for sale, andwill open to the buying public in July. All products listed undergo an examination by a Markette Sixindependent graduate gemologi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has appointed Ayesha Hira as vicepresident for corporate development and strategy. Hira is a former geologist with a background in diamonds,base metals and gold exploration. She later switched to capital markets,focusing on mining companies. In the new role, Hira will oversee growth opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions. She will also assist Lucara CEO...Read More
RAPAPORT... Pandora has opened a new manufacturing center in Bangkok, Thailand,aiming to speed up production and comply with consumers' sustainability demands. The facility, named Triple A, will produce more than 1.5million pieces of jewelry per week, and shorten production time to four weeksfrom the current five to eight weeks, Pandora said Friday. "We are very proud to celebrate the official ope...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Global jewelry trends expert Paola De Luca will give a presentation with PGI China at the June 21-24 Hong Kong Jewelry & Gem Fair about new consumers of platinum jewelry and emerging design trends. De Luca, a leading authority in jewelry design forecasting, will join PGI China at the show on June 21 in presenting her latest research into the types of new consumers who bu...Read More
Big mining blastedMining and metals investors were offloading the sector's big names on Friday over fears of the impact of a trade war between the US and China, which is responsible for nearly half the world's industrial metal demand and two-thirds of the world's seaborne trade in steelmaking raw materials.Copper fell nearly 3% to $3.13 a pound or $6,900 a tonne, pushing the bellwether metal back...Read More
Germiston-based pumps supplier Centex Africa has supplied13 dewatering pumpsets, with another eight pumpsets on order, to Namibian diamond mining company Namdeb to prolong the life of the mine by ensuring the safer mining of diamonds in the ocean water lakes in Oranjemund, on the southern coast of Namibia. “Our project scope was to dewater 50-billion litres of water from the lakes as quickly...Read More
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) have reached a significant milestone in a collaborative exercise on water conservation and water demand management aimed at driving water savings and usage improvements in the mining industry.The collaboration between the DWS and the MCSA has evolved over several years, with the most recent project being the...Read More
Most mining companies have the word "gold" in their name, according to a study of Mining Intelligence company names.There are over 1,000 mining companies that use a variant of the word "gold" in their moniker. Some examples would be Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) or Condor Gold (TSE:COG).Data comes from Mining Intelligence, which tracks over 13,000 mining companies.The second and third most popular commod...Read More
Brazil's President Michel Temer signed Tuesday a decree instituting the new Mining Code Rules. This adds up to the set of Federal Government initiatives targeted at overhauling and updating the Brazilian regulatory framework for the mineral industry, and supervenes the current rules that have been in place for nearly 50 years by now.The erstwhile Mining Code Rules (instituted by Decree No. 62,934...Read More
Polished market stable as Las Vegas shows signal robust US jewelrysector. Chinese retail also improving, spurring optimism for rest of the year. Gooddemand for 0.50 ct. SIs and improving trend for 0.70 ct. Rough trading steadyafter small $288M Alrosa May sale. Cutters cautious ahead of next week's DeBeers sight due to tight profit margins. Graff Diamonds 2017 sales +22% to$693M, profit +232% to $5...Read More
Dealers focused onpost-Vegas follow-up and preparing for next week's Hong Kong show (June 21 to24). Twenty-two companies participating in India Diamond Week networking event atChina's Shenzhen Rough Diamond Exchange. Few overseas buyers in Mumbai.Polished production at slightly lower levels, after rough purchases declined inMay due to high prices. Focus turning to next week's De Beers sight. -1...Read More