RAPAPORT... Robust demand for steel watches drove Swiss timepiece exportsupward in March, closing off the industry's strongest quarter of growth in sixyears. Worldwide shipments of Swiss timepieces climbed 5% year onyear to $1.73 billion (CHF 1.7 billion) last month, the Federation of the SwissWatch Industry reported Tuesday. Exports to Hong Kong jumped 10% to $234.5million (CHF 230.3 million), wh...Read More
RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds' production and selling prices increased in the thirdquarter amid better rough-market conditions and higher-grade ore from its Liqhobongmine.Output stood at 192,604 carats for the three months ending March 31, the miner reported last week. That was 6.6% higher than the previous quarter. The mine began production in October 2016, with the first sale taking place in Fe...Read More
RAPAPORT... Major gemological laboratories have rebuffed claims that detection machines are failing to spot synthetic diamonds that have undergone irradiation.In a trade alert last week, Diamond Services argued that the treatment, generally used to alter the color of a stone,can mask the phosphorescence effect when diamonds created using High Pressure-HighTemperature (HPHT) undergo scanningat room...Read More
This article first appeared in the April edition of the Rapaport Research Report. To download a copy of the report, click here and login with your username and password. Not yet a subscriber? Learn more and subscribe today. RAPAPORT... There is some anticipation for the coming months at Tiffany & Co. A year after joining the company, its celebrated chief artistic offi...Read More
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A new report that fine-combed the national pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) of Canada, the US and Mexico to explore pollutant data reported by industrial facilities, has pointed to the critical need to standardise the way information is collected across the three jurisdictions, according to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).Orla...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pangolin Diamonds Corp. has recovered a white diamond from its wholly-owned Jwaneng South Kimberlite Project in an area 100 km south of the Jwaneng diamond mine in the Southern District Botswana. The diamond was recovered from an unscreened 60 litre sample collected within a 10 square metre area of a GPS controlled sample site, the firm said. This material was dry screened in the f...Read More
WINDHOEK, April 24 (Reuters) - Diamond and uranium producer Namibia may scrap requirements for black ownership in the mining sector as it seeks to woo investors to an industry that is rebounding with the commodities cycle, its new mines minister said on Tuesday.Regional peers such as Angola and Zimbabwe are also trying to kickstart their mining sectors by easing investment rules at a time when oth...Read More
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's No.1 heavy machinery maker, boosted Tuesday its 2018 profits forecast after beating estimates for first-quarter earnings on strong global demand for its equipment.For the three months ended on March 31, the Deerfield, Illinois-based firm, which is considered a reliable bellwether of global economic activity, reported a net profit of $2.74 per share, above most...Read More
Anglo American (LON:AAL) won't resume production at its massive Minas Rio in Brazil until the fourth quarter of 2018 due to two pipeline leaks that forced it to halt operations in March, and which will cause the miner an annual group earnings (EBITDA) loss of $300 to $400 million.The announcement is the last of a string of difficulties Anglo has faced with the mine, which was expected to produce...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds saw a jump in revenue in the third fiscal quarter amid a stronger rough market.Revenue surged 44% year on year to $172 million for the three months ending March 31, while salesvolume increased 28% to 1.4 million carats, the miner reported Monday. The average selling price rose 12% to $125 per carat. Rough prices increased 5% on a like-for-like basis at the two tende...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers' production grew during the first quarter as the company reached full capacity at its Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in Canadaand increased output in Botswana in response to a strong market. The miner's global production jumped 15% year on year to 8.5million carats during the period ending March 31, parent company Anglo American reportedTuesday. Rough-diamond recovery in Canada soared 69%...Read More
RAPAPORT... A 3.09-carat blue diamond smashed its pre-sale estimate atChristie's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York last week. Therectangular-cut, fancy intense blue diamond ring, surrounded by taperedbaguette-cut diamonds on either side, sold for $5.4 million. Its originalestimate was $2 million to $3 million. A similar 3.47-carat ring sold atSotheby's New York Magnificent Jewels auction the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Mountain Province's sales increased at its April rough-diamondtender as a higher carat volume outweighed a weaker average price. The miner sold 451,000 carats of rough from its Gahcho Ku?(C)mine for $26.4 million at an average of $59 per carat, it reported in astatement last week. While total sales rose from $25.1 million in March, theaverage price was the lowest of the year. The Febr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. said that approximately 1,641,000 carats were recovered in the first quarter ended March 31 on a 100% basis from the Gahcho Ku?(C) diamond mine for an average grade of approximately 2.09 carats per tonne. This was 89% and 18% higher, respectively than what was achieved during the same period last year. Said David Whittle, the company's Interim Presi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds Limited reported that Q3 revenue jumped 44% to $172.0 million from 1,373,771 carats sold (Q3 FY 2017: $119.1 million from 1,069,886 carats sold). Revenue for nine months to 31 March 2018 was 14% to $397.3 million from 3,184,924 carats sold, (Q3 FY 2017: $347.6 million from 2,979,999 carats sold). Revenue for FY 2018, however, continues to be impacted by the inabili...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers reported rough diamond production for Q1 2018 increased 15% to 8.5 million carats, reflecting the ramp-up of production from Gahcho Ku?(C) in Canada, and also to increased production from Orapa in Botswana in response to sustained healthy trading conditions. Total rough diamond sales volumes in Q1 2018 were 8.8 million carats (8.4 million carats on a consolidated basis) fr...Read More
Diamond group De Beers reported on Tuesday that its total production had increased by 15% to 8.5-million carats during the first quarter of this year (1Q18). This rise in output was largely credited by the Group to the ramp-up in production at the Gahcho Kué project in Canada and greater production at the Orapa operation in Botswana.In Canada, Gahcho Kué, which had achieved its namep...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) announced today that an agreement has been reached with the Diamond Controller extending the tax-free inspection period of imported diamonds to 30 days from 3 days. The extension applies to diamonds with a $50,000 minimum value. The change in the inspection period is expected to have a substantial effect on Israel's diamond trade, opening up the I...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds saw a jump in revenue in the third fiscal quarter amid a stronger rough market.Revenue surged 44% year on year to $172 million for the three months ending March 31, while salesvolume increased 28% to 1.4 million carats, the miner reported Monday. The average selling price rose 12% to $125 per carat. Rough prices increased 5% on a like-for-like basis at the two tende...Read More
RAPAPORT... A 3.09-carat blue diamond smashed its pre-sale estimate atChristie's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York last week. Therectangular-cut, fancy intense blue diamond ring, surrounded by taperedbaguette-cut diamonds on either side, sold for $5.4 million. Its originalestimate was $2 million to $3 million. A similar 3.47-carat ring sold atSotheby's New York Magnificent Jewels auction the...Read More