(IDEX Online) - The Letseng mine in Lesotho, has yielded a 254 carat Type II white diamond.The deposit, owned by London-based Gem Diamonds, is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, and last year achieved an average value of $1,908 per carat.Its highest per carat value for a white rough diamond during the year was $38,827.The new stone (pictured) is the first major find...Read More

RAPAPORT... A marquise-cut diamond from the family of the original "Gibson Girl" will go under the hammer at Skinner Auctioneers later this month.The unmounted, 12.20-carat, G-color, SI1-clarity diamond came from the descendants of Irene Langhorne Gibson, who is thought to have modeled for husband and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. The famed American artist created the Gibson Girl image, a...Read More

RAPAPORT... Pandora has increased its forecast for the full year amid strong US and online demand at the start of 2021.The Danish jeweler now expects revenue for the year to increase more than 12% compared to 2020, adjusted from its initial prediction of more than 8%, it said Tuesday. The upgrade is "driven by the US stimulus packages, as well as stronger underlying performance," the com...Read More

The price of stainless steel flat products in Europe surged this week with some sources attributing this to China's cancellation of an export tax rebate, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?3,000-3,050 ($3,611-3,672) per tonne, up by ?,?200 per tonne week on...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The price index for all sizes and intensities of fancy color diamonds rose slightly, by 0.3 per cent, in Q1 of this year, after two quarters of decline. Blues were up 0.5 per cent across the board, and pinks rose 0.4 per cent, according to the New York-based Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). Yellows fell 0.2 per cent. No figures were produced for for Q1 and Q2 of 20...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A former Israeli army officer has been arrested on suspicion of stealing diamonds worth more than $600,000 from a trader.He and three fellow gang members allegedly snatched the man's bag near his home in Kiryat Ata, outside Haifa, in the north of the country.They are said to have attacked him from behind and threatened him with a gun or a knife.Police believe they'd been...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough-diamond demand was robust at this week's De Beers sight despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in India, customers reported. Manufacturers snapped up the limited supply in anticipation of rough shortages, sources told Rapaport News. Sales will still be 10% to 25% lower than the previous cycle in March because of reduced availability, they estimated. That translates to...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Just three countries - Russia, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo - jointly produced almost 80 per cent of the world's diamonds last year.Russia was the single biggest diamond producer. It mined 19m carats - just over 35 per cent - according to new data analyzed by the finance website Finbold.Australia and Congo tied for second place, both producing a little over 2...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of jewelry soared in Hong Kong during March compared with the same month last year, when China's special administrative region was in the depths of the Covid crisis. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts increased by 81 per cent year-on-year, the best performance in any retail sector, according to provisional figures released by the governme...Read More

(IDEX Online) - An Australian start-up aims to fill an industry gap by providing a secondary market for super-rare pink diamonds.Prices are soaring, says Tim Goodman, CEO of yourdiamonds.com, yet private owners encounter problems selling pre-owned pinks.He aims to sell a maximum of 30 stones at his first sale, and to then hold six-monthly tenders.  Goodman, a former executive chairman of...Read More

Pig iron export prices from Brazil increased further on new sales in the week to Friday May 7, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $575-590 per tonne on Friday, up from $545-560 per tonne the previous week.Two 30,000-35,000 tonnes cargoes of pig iron, with phosphorous content 0.15%, were sold from southern Brazil for...Read More

Premiums for aluminium billet set or remained at all-time highs across the globe on Friday May 7, with tight supply and strong demand persisting.United StatesFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, delivered Midwest US at 20-22 cents per lb on Friday, steady since it rose to a fresh all-time high on April 23.Strong demand across extrusion end-use sectors and tight supply...Read More

RAPAPORT... Bonhams will offer a Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring at its New York sale this month, expecting it to fetch up to $480,000.The ring, from the late 19th century, contains a cushion-shaped, 5.22-carat unheated sapphire set within a diamond frame. The piece will lead the May 19 auction, Bonhams said last week."Kashmir sapphires are among the most highly prized gems in the world due to t...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe bill to establish royalty and taxation based on sales revenue - rather than profits - passed Chile's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, on Thursday.Read More

Cesco, the Chilean Center for Copper and Mining Studies, is calling for a technical and political committee to be formed in order to discuss the recent law proposal to increase mining royalties in the country.An optimal balance between state interests and return on private investments must be reached to develop Chile's mining industry further, Cesco said in a statement on Friday May 7. It added th...Read More

Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaPAM puts itself in the middle of Thailand 4.0SPONSOREDAuroch powers up nickel explorationSPONSOREDauroch mineralsSaturn still shooting for the stars at Apollo HillSPONSOREDsaturn metalsJadar is anticipated to be a multi-decade underground mine that would be one of the largest greenfield...Read More

Towards Sustainable Mining Tailings Guidance Aligns with Global StandardSPONSOREDthe mining association of canadaPAM puts itself in the middle of Thailand 4.0SPONSOREDAuroch powers up nickel explorationSPONSOREDauroch mineralsSaturn still shooting for the stars at Apollo HillSPONSOREDsaturn metalsThe AGM was the first held in Perth since the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves a year ago.Read More

Metal merchants for years ploughed credit into Liberty Commodities, the trading unit of GFG Alliance, even while banks quietly shunned the company.In separate instances related to nickel and copper deals dating to 2016, blue-chip banks including ICBC Standard Bank, Sberbank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have abruptly halted financing of commodity trades made by Liberty after finding irr...Read More

Copper's futures price set a new all-time high in afternoon trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday May 7, with the bullishness also extending to zinc, which rose above $3,000 per tonne for the first time since June 2018, and aluminium.Three-month copper reached a record high price of $10,435 per tonne on Friday, with volumes traded at over 22,300 lots by 5pm - the most since mid-April.The...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationCopper production from the Gibraltar mine in British Columbia in Q1 amounted to 22.2 million pounds, down 31% year-on-year, as head grades fell to 0.Read More