(IDEX Online) - Angola exported 8.75m carats last year, well down on its original forecast of 13.8m.But total revenue was $1.95bn, the Ministry for Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas said, an increase of almost a quarter on $1.5bn in 2021.In January 2022 Angola revised down its forecast output for the year by almost a third to 10.5m carats.Diamantino de Azevedo, Angola's minister for mineral reso...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar added US0.10 to 74.47 cents following release of Canada's November GDP report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase of 0.1% versus a gain of 0.1% in October. Actual was an increase of 0.1%. On a year-over-year basis consensus was an increase of 2.7%. Actual was an...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Belgium's prime minister has again said opposes an EU ban on Russian diamonds, calling instead for a global boycott.Alexander De Croo (pictured) was speaking as the 27 EU members prepared to implement a 10th round of sanctions.He said the only effective way to stem the ongoing flow of Alrosa's goods would be if all Western nations signed up to a ban, backed by a watertigh...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Police in the US are hunting a raider who pepper-sprayed a female staff member during a raid on the jewelry counter at a Kohl's department store.The suspect was caught on surveillance footage smashing a display case with a hammer and stealing wedding rings valued at $80,000.The worker was injured by the pepper spray , but no further details of her condition were given.The susp...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The US jewelry sector is shrinking, according to the latest listings of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers by JBT (Jewelers Board of Trade).The number of manufacturers in Q4 2022 was 2,412, down 3.1 per cent on the same quarter in 2021. Retailers fell 2.4 percent from 19,320 to 18,855 and the number of wholesalers fell 1.6 per cent from 3,687 to 3,629.The majority of the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A court in India has ruled that the government should pay the widow of an informant in full for a tip-off that led to Customs officials seizing smuggled diamonds.Chandrakant Dhavre provided specific information in 1991 about a consignment of diamonds, mostly polished, worth over $110,000 (90 lakh rupees at today's exchange rate).He received two payments as part of his reward i...Read More
U.S equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 31 points in pre-opening trade. General Motors slipped $0.80 to 37.15 after Berenberg downgraded the stock to Hold.Kohl's dropped $0.77 to $30.72 after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Sell recommendation.Alibaba fell $6.19 to $112.19 on unsubstantiated rumors that the company plans to move its headquarters to S...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A collection of "space diamonds" have landed, after an 18 million mile journey orbiting Earth.The first-ever batch of diamonds a NASA mission will be numbered, laser engraved and documented by the American Gem Society Laboratory as having been in space.The gems - a mix of mined and lab growns - blasted off on Elon Musk's SpaceX-26 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province reported a 20 per cent drop in total proceeds for FY 2022 after a "very challenging start to the year".The Canadian miner sold fewer carats - down from 3.16m in 2021 to 2.66m - but average prices per carat were up a third from US$75 to US$112.Q4 sales for 2022 were US$71.3m, up from US$67.5m for Q4 of 2021. In Q3 of 2022 sales hit $81m - the highest quarterly figu...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 8 points in pre-opening trade. December Core PCE Price Index released at 8:30 AM EDT was expected to increase 0.3% versus a gain of 0.2% in November. Actual was an increase of 0.3%. On a year-over-year basis December core PCE Price Index is expected to increase 4.4% versus a gain of 4.7% in November. Actual was a gain...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A digital supplement to GIA grading reports has been launched as part of its "strategic collaboration" with the AGS.The two grading labs announced last October that the AGS Laboratories, research staff, intellectual property, technology and Las Vegas facility would be integrated into GIA.The AGS supplement to GIA diamond reports will be available for D-to-Z natural and lab grown ro...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Three workers at a gold mine in Kenya were killed in a blast caused by illegal miners.Six other employees at the Karebe mine, the Northern Rift Valley region, were seriously injured in the explosion on Monday.The workers who died were deep underground at the time of the blast."Our staff were instantly killed when a wall built to prevent the mine against flooding and illegal i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - US consumers are set to spend $5.5bn on jewelry as they splash out on a record Valentine's Day, according to the NRF (National Retail Federation).That will account for just over a fifth (21 per cent) of the forecast $25.9bn, it says in its Prosper Insights & Analytics issued yesterday. Total Valentine's spending in 2021 was $23.9 bn.Top gifts are forecast to include c...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 9 points at 7:30 AM EST.December Durable Goods Orders released at 8:30 AM EST are expected to increase 2.5% versus a drop of 2.5% in November. Excluding Transportation Orders, December Durable Goods Orders are expected to slip 0.1% versus a gain of 0.1% in November. Next estimate of U.S. fourth quarter GDP released at...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Talented Wang Xuerui beat over 1,500 jewelry designers to win first prize in HRD Antwerp's 18th Design Awards. Her piece, called Mutualistic, was described as "a stunning work that symbolizes peace at the core of its design". Judges at the Vicenzaoro boutique jewelry show, in Italy, were looking for storytelling, technical skills and the ability to translate them into the des...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The UK miner Vast Resources says it has made encouraging progress towards the release of a parcel of 129,400 carats of rough diamonds that have been held at Zimbabwe's central bank since 2009. It began formal proceedings at the High Court of Zimbabwe last December and said in a statement that it was "encouraged that material progress on the outcome of this legal action...Read More
(IDEX Online) - BlueRock Diamonds has again been forced to suspend work at its Kareevlei mine, in Kimberley, South Africa, over breaches of the Mines Health and Safety act.The UK-based miner said most of the contraventions related to its processing plant. It did not provide details, but was adamant that they did not put workers at risk."Management is of the opinion that the instruction to suspend...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 35 points in pre-opening trade. The Bank of Canada is scheduled to announce its interest rate for major Canadian banks at 10:00 AM EST. Consensus calls for an increase in the rate from 4.25% to 4.50%. A press conference is offered at 11:00 AM EST. Microsoft dropped $2.44 to $239.60 after the company offered a cautious...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Hammer-wielding raiders fled with $2m of jewelry after smashing display cases of diamond engagement rings at a store in Brooklyn, New York.They threatened to shoot a worker - although no gun was seen. Staff and customers were physically unhurt, but were traumatized.Irina Sulay, owner of Facets Fine Jewelry, in Park Slope, buzzed one man in and two others followed."He reached i...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa today reported another "solid quarter" with Q4 rough sales of A$62.4m (US$43.9m) from its mines in Angola and Lesotho. That's an increase of 51 per cent year-on-year (A$m) or 39 per cent (US$m). The total number of carats sold slipped slightly, but the average per carat price rose by 49 per cent, from US$1,822 to US$2,707. Figures are for 100 per cent of the two p...Read More