(IDEX Online) - The Alrosa Diamond Inspector, the first portable Russian instrument for diamond verification, has received high results in the ASSURE testing program run by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA). The testing was carried out by UL Verification Services, Inc., an independent laboratory in the U.S. The DPA program is designed to standardize the effectiveness of tools and specia...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has high expectations for its final auction of the year. The corporation sold 316,000 carats at its most recent tender. In the next sale, which is anticipated for November, according to The Herald, MMCZ hopes to sell 400,000-500,000 carats of goods. While Zimbabwe expects to almost double its production this year - 4.1...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The lab-grown diamond sector continues to strengthen its leadership. WD Lab Grown Diamonds has appointed Sue Rechner, former global president of Merrell, as its CEO.Read was also president of Victorinox Swiss Army and CEO of Victorinox Swiss Army Watch and has leadership experience with global brands such as Movado, Seiko, Citizen and Frederick Goldman."I see WD as a leading force...Read More

Botswana Diamonds, together with its associate Vutomi, has signed a contract mining and processing agreement with Eurafrican Diamond Corporation (EDC) to mine and process the diamond-bearing gravels and residual stockpiles on a portion of the Marsfontein farm, in Limpopo.Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling indicated that partnering with EDC paved the way for commercial production to restart...Read More

London-listed Petra Diamonds has recovered a 20.08 ct blue gem-quality Type IIb diamond from the Cullinan mine, in South Africa's Gauteng province."Today's recovery not only demonstrates the quality of Petra's asset base, as the Cullinan diamond mine remains a significant source of rare blue diamonds, but it again confirms the prevalence of exceptional stones in the Cullinan orebo...Read More

Stellar result for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxThe event heard from a mixed of big producers and "smaller … underappreciated base metals miners", host Jefferies said.The bank's analysts said management teams from Freeport McMoRan, Anglo American, Vale, Teck, HudBay Minerals, Ivanhoe Mines, OZ Minerals, KAZ Minerals, Lundin Mining, Ero Copper, Taseko and Northern Dynasty Minerals expressed a genera...Read More

Stellar result for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxProject manager and 50.79% owner of TRQ, Rio Tinto, had flagged a cost blowout and delays to the US$5.3 billion underground expansion in July due to challenging ground conditions.Read More

Stellar result for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxThe company said the accident involved a civil contractor at a surface cement batching plant.Ivanhoe said the Kamoa-Kakula project had gone more than 7.5 years without a lost-time injury and this was the first fatality.Stellar result for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarx"We are all deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life at the Kamoa-Kakula project and our thoughts a...Read More

Turkish steel producers have continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for November shipments, confirming another downturn in the prices, sources said on Wednesday September 25.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $228 per tonne, 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $233 per tonne and 2,000 tonnes of plate and structural scrap (P&S) at $238...Read More

The physical iron ore markets were largely inactive on Wednesday September 25 because of a key industry conference in China and the current restrictions on that country's steelmakers.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.34 per tonne, down by $0.49 per tonne62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.73 per tonne, down by $0.49 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao:...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market gained some strength on Wednesday September 25, with bids for cargoes to be loaded in the last two months of this year emerging above prevailing transaction prices.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.60 per tonne, up $5.41 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153.98 per tonne, down $1 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.50 per tonne, unchange...Read More

* GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Recasts, updates with closing prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Copper prices erased losses onWednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump held out theprospect of end to a trade war with top metals consumer China. Trump told reporters in New York that a deal to end a nearly15-month trade war with China could happen "sooner than youthink". Wi...Read More

China Molybdenum Co (CMOC), the winner of the recent auction of ammonium paratungstate (APT) stocks formerly held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange, is not likely to offload the materials within the next year, market participants told Fastmarkets. CMOC won 28,336 tonnes of Fanya's APT stocks for 3.27 billion yuan ($463 million) in an auction on Tuesday September 17. Rather than casting a sh...Read More

U.S. equity index futures moved lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 2 points in pre-opening comments. Index futures responded to launch of an impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives.Nike gained $5.37 to an all-time high at $92.55 after the company reported higher than consensus fiscal first quarter earnings. Stifel Nicolaus raise its target price to $106 form $96.Philip M...Read More

The Shanghai copper cathode premium moved higher in the week to Tuesday September 24, with continued opportunities in the London-Shanghai arbitrage prompting increased market interest, while flat demand caps premiums in Europe and the United States. Improved arbitrage prompts Shanghai premium interest European demand woes continue US traders wary of import arbitrage lossImproved arbitrage drives u...Read More

Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices retreated on Wednesday September 25 with traders seeking more sales before the country's October 1-7 Golden Week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,640-3,650 yuan ($512-513) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,600 yuan per tonne, unchangedHRC futures traded below Tuesday's settlement price of 3,522 yuan per tonne for most of the day...Read More

Eastern China's rebar prices retreated on Wednesday September 25, which went on to stimulate trading activity. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,680-3,700 yuan ($517-520) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,590-3,630 yuan per tonne, unchangedSellers in eastern China lowered their prices after two days of increases, which led some end users in the region to raise thei...Read More

The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday September 25:Minor metalsAntimony max 100ppm Bi, in-whs Rotterdam $/tonne: $5,950-6,175 per tonne from $5,850-6,150Antimony MMTA standard grade II, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $5,900-6,100 per tonne from $5,800-6,100Antimony MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, yuan/tonne: 39,000-39,500...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday September 25.Key driversThe ferro-titanium market dropped in price in the past week, losing $10 on the top end of the range amid slow trading. Consumers have been slow to return to the market since the seasonal summer lull, both for prompt and quarterly deliveries of ferro-titanium. Around 70 tonnes of ferro-titanium was reported so...Read More

While the ferro-alloys industry prepares to gather in Chicago for the annual North American Ferro-alloys conference on September 25-27, Fastmarkets outlines some of the key topics likely to dominate discussions this year. Where is the floor for ferro-vanadium prices? Ferro-vanadium prices in Chinese and European markets both hit all-time highs last year, partly because of an anticipated increase i...Read More