RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Mines has completed the sale of its Ekati mine in Canada, and has resumed operations at the site.Arctic Canadian Diamond Company, a business owned by two of Dominion's bondholders, has acquired all of Dominion's assets, except its 40% stake in the Divaik mine, which it shares with joint-venture partner Rio Tinto, Dominion said Wednesday.Under the terms of the agreement...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is offering $2 million in scholarships this year, with the funds available mainly for distance-learning courses due to the pandemic.Prospective students around the world may apply, with the deadline falling on March 31 for all classes that start between June and December 2021, the GIA said Wednesday. On-campus availability is limited. The...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Pandora reported an increase in its Q4 net profit, up by almost five per cent to $289.6m, despite the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19.Online organic growth more than doubled, up by 104 per cent, and online sales contributed 32 per cent of total revenue. Overall organic growth was four per cent.The Danish jeweler, best known for its charm bracelets, saw revenue fall by 0.8 per c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A collection of high-end watches and jewelry seized from criminals by British police and valued at $1.1m is being auctioned off.Among the 100-plus lots are 15 Rolex, Patek Philippe and Hublot watches and items of diamond jewelry by Cartier and Tiffany & Co. They were were all reclaimed by UK police forces and Government agencies under the Proceeds of Crime Act, whereby con...Read More

RAPAPORT... The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) has named Ashish Pethe as its new chairman as part of a shake-up of its leadership team.The council, which represents India's domestic jewelry industry, elected nine new board members, who in turn picked Pethe as chairman, he told Rapaport News this week. His term began on January 1 and will last two years. He succeeds Anantha...Read More

Forward prices on the London Metal Exchange made luckluster moves on Thursday February 4, with the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday and a high US dollar index leading to consolidation.Copper was part of the stable LME cohort, staying broadly unchanged at $7,823 per tonne on Thursday compared with $7,842.50 per tonne at Wednesday's close, albeit on low volumes of just over 10,400 lots exchang...Read More

General Motors (GM) has become the latest automaker hit by the global shortage of computer chips and has been forced to temporarily stop production in North America and South Korea, it said on Wednesday February 3.The US automaker will cut production entirely at three of its factories in North America and will halt production at one assembly plant in South Korea during the week of February 8. The...Read More

Automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) do not agree that there should be an additional premium for "green" aluminium, Mark White, industry consultant and innovation director at DSW Automotive, told Fastmarkets. White spoke about the automotive industry's stance on a green aluminium premium during a Fastmarkets webinar titled "Empowering Consumers: The Future of Responsible Materials &...Read More

The prospective owners of KAZ Minerals have increased their offer to buy the copper miner to $3.7 billion in their effort to take the London Stock Exchange-listed entity private, Fastmarkets understands.The rise in the consortium's offer comes at a time when the London Metal Exchange copper price has increased by nearly $1,000 per tonne since the first bid for the company was made, together with t...Read More

Start, Rio Tinto's new digital sustainability label, uses blockchain technology to encrypt key information about the company's aluminium, functioning like a "digital filing cabinet," vice president of sales marketing at Rio Tinto Aluminium Tolga Egrilmezer told Fastmarkets. Egilmezer lauded the advantages of using blockchain for its Start label during Fastmarkets' webinar "Empowering Consumer...Read More

Glencore and Century Aluminum Co have agreed a deal for the sale of 150,000 tonnes of Natur-Al brand aluminium to Austria-based Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI). Glencore will supply the aluminium to HAI over five years, Glencore said in a press release on Thursday February 4. Natur-Al products are made using energy from 100% renewable sources at Century's Nor??ur??l Grundartangi aluminum plant...Read More

Prices for imported hot-rolled coil in the United States fell from the highest in more than 12 years, with buyers looking for deals amid speculation that prices will drop by the time cargoes arrive at American ports."A lot of consumers are shopping for their best deals, but the problem is inventory availability in some cases," a West Coast distributor said.  Fastmarkets' assessment for s...Read More

Steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States are steady this week, with market participants closely watching the monthly domestic ferrous scrap trade for signs of how it will impact the spot rebar market.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was at $39.75 per hundredweight ($795 per short ton) on Wednesday February 3, unchanged from January 27...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royalties"Overdependence on diamonds has made it imperative for us to urgently expand our revenue base to other minerals such as coal and base metals", Mokgweetsi Masisi, president of Botswana told the VirtualRead More

Brazilian vehicle production climbed by 4.2% year on year in January, with the industry slowly recovering from Covid-related restrictions imposed in the second quarter of 2020, trade association Anfavea said on Thursday February 4.Output totaled 199,707 units in the first month of 2021, rising from 191,731 units in the same month last year. But the total was down by 4.6% from 209,296 units in...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe company recently added the Esperanza project in San Juan, Argentina, to its Big Red discovery in British Columbia, Canada, and its Mocoa project in Colombia.Read More

Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesOceanaGold marks three decades of gold standard mining SPONSOREDoceanagoldNovachuk and Kim's investment consortium Nova Resources posted the new offer on Thursday morning, having launched an in...Read More

Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Europe inched down over the week to Wednesday February 3, but buyers declined the lower offers, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel CRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?800-810 ($962-974) per tonne on February 3, compared with ?,?800-820 per tonne a week earlier.The assessment was based on achievable prices hear...Read More

Two-time Vale president Eliezer Batista diesLeadershipLook beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipNeo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedFilo has four drill rigs on site with a fifth coming soon. One goal is to tighten the drill spacing around some of the 1km-long intercepts grading up to 0...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil across Europe were stable day on day on Thursday February 4, despite attempts by mills to achieve price rises, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?710.00 ($854.16) per tonne on Thursday, unchanged day on day.The index was down by ?,?1.00 per tonne week on week but up by...Read More