RAPAPORT... Sotheby's garnered $34 million across three salesthat made up its New York spring auctions, with a rare fancyintense blue diamond ring standing out as the highlight of the event. The combined auctions were 83.3% sold by lot. The cut-cornered, rectangular, step-cut 3.47-carat stone (pictured) seta price-per-carat world record for a blue diamond, selling for $1.9 million percar...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond production at Rio Tinto rose 11% year on year to 4.6million carats in the first quarter of 2018, driven by an increase in outputfrom its Argyle mine. The Australia-based operation yielded nearly 3.6 million caratsin the first three months ending March 31, an 18% jump over the same periodlast year. The growth was due to the processing of higher-grade alluvialtailings, the compan...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's garnered $34 million across three salesthat made up its New York spring auctions, with a rare fancyintense blue diamond ring standing out as the highlight of the event. The combined auctions were 83.3% sold by lot. The cut-cornered, rectangular, step-cut 3.47-carat stone (pictured) seta price-per-carat world record for a blue diamond, selling for $1.9 million percar...Read More
Zimbabwe's parliament has ordered former leader Robert Mugabe to answer questions next month about whether the state was deprived of $15 billion in diamond revenue, a legislator said on Friday.It will be Mugabe's first public appearance since last November when the army deposed him in a de facto coup after nearly four decades in power and he was replaced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.The 94-year...Read More
Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's top diamond producer by output, saw its total production fall by 17% in the first three months of the year mainly due to the halt of its Mir underground mine and lower-grade ores processed from the Jubilee pipe.The Russian miner produced 7.4 million carats in the quarter, compared with 8.9 million carats in the same period of 2017, and 10 million carats in the pre...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed diamond mining company Trans Hex’s subsidiary Trans Hex Operations (THO) has entered into an agreement to sell its Lower Orange River (LOR) operations – the Bloeddrif and Baken mines – to black women-owned LOR Diamonds for R72-million.The agreement includes the disposal of the business conducted by THO relating to the exploration...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Alrosa on Friday reported a 17% year-on-year decrease in its first-quarter production, as the shutdown of the Mir underground division weighed on its performance and lower-grade ores were processed from the Jubilee pipe.The miner produced 7.42-million carats in the quarter, compared with 8.93-million carats in the corresponding period of 2017,...Read More
Angola- and Lesotho-focused diamondminer Lucapa Diamond Company believes that, once the Mothae diamond mine, in Lesotho, enters into full production, the operation, paired with the company’s Lulo alluvial diamond mine, in Angola, will position it as one of few worldwide to have two mines producing diamonds that sell for more than $1 000/ct. “Lucapa is confident that we can commission t...Read More
HARARE – Zimbabwe's parliament has ordered former leader Robert Mugabe to answer questions next month about whether the state was deprived of $15-billion in diamond revenue, a legislator said on Friday.It will be Mugabe's first public appearance since last November when the army deposed him in a de facto coup after nearly four decades in power and he was replaced by President Emmerso...Read More
Anglo American's De Beers, the world's largest rough diamond producer by value, is stepping up efforts to remove so-called "conflict" precious stones from the market by launching a pilot program in Sierra Leone that will help trace the route gems dug up there by small miners.The trial, which aims at supplying retailers with "ethically-sourced" diamonds from artisanal miners based in the West Afr...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Zebra Diamonds Ltd., the Botswana diamond polishing factory part of the group of companies of Belgium-based IGC Group, has celebrated its 10th anniversary. An event was held in the presence of Botswana's Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, De Beers executives, the Governor of the Bank of Botswana, management and staff. In 2007,...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Russian diamond miner Alrosa has opened a representative office in Mumbai, India, on the territory of the Bharat Diamond Bourse.The office will not conduct any trading activity and will be concentrated on strengthening ties with the Indian market, the company said on Thursday.AdvertisementMumbai office director, Jim Vimadalal, would work on promoting the com...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research (IIDGR), part of the De Beers Group, provides the following statement regarding the press release distributed by Diamond Services on 17 April 2018 titled: Lab Alert - HPHT-grown diamonds might escape detection as synthetics, once they are treated with irradiation: "IIDGR confirms that its instruments AMS2, SYNTHdete...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) –The Lesotho government has announced its intention to renew JSE-listed Gem Diamonds’ Letšeng mining lease until 2034.The mining lease may be further extended if necessary in relation to any underground development of the mine thereafter.Advertisement“I would like to thank the government of Lesotho for its ongoing support, which will allow G...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds Limited announced that Lesotho has agreed to renew the firm's Let??eng mining lease until 2034. The country's prime minister and minister of mining announced their intention to renew the mining lease at the Lesotho Mining Roundtable event held on 18 April, as part of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) currently being held in London, t...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds recovered 192 604 ct of diamonds from its Liqhobong mine, in Lesotho, in the three months to March 31.Recoveries were 6.6% higher than the previous quarter, resulting in a year-to-date total of 572 320 ct. Advertisement"In the first nine months of the financial year, Liqhobong has recovered fewer carats than planned ow...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Jeweler Roberto Coin will present new collections and adorn special guest Elizabeth Hurley at CARAT+ next month. The Italian fine jewelry brand will showcase its collections at CARAT+ in May 2018, following a successful showing at the event in 2017. It will also select a number of exceptional pieces to be worn by special guest, Elizabeth Hurley, during the CARAT+ Nigh...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner De Beers is preparing to pilot a programme, called GemFair, to support the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale (ASM) diamond mining and trading.This programme will create a secure and transparent route to market for ethically sourced ASM diamonds.AdvertisementGemFair will use dedicated technology to record ASM production at mine sites th...Read More
Researchers with the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland discovered that a planetary "embryo" whose size was between Mercury to Mars gave origin to the meteorite fragments that form the Almahata Sitta collection. The pieces were recovered from the Nubian Desert in Sudan a decade ago.Such fragments contained diamonds of some 100-microns in diameter and have been objects of study...Read More
Sentiment mixed as April trading slows. Manufacturers concerned abouttight profit after De Beers raised prices average 1% to 2% at $520M sight.Indian liquidity squeezed as banks reexamine diamond loans. Rough pricessupported by limited 2Q availability. De Beers increasing supply to southernAfrica beneficiation centers. Rising expectations for US demand ahead of LasVegas shows. Chinese retail impro...Read More