(IDEX Online) - VILLAGERS in south-eastern Zimbabwe claim they're being evicted from their homes to make way for gold and diamond mining - rather than dairy farming.Over 12,000 residents of Chilonga Village, in Chiredzi, say the project proposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a "cover story".They say the real reason they're being removed is to allow large-scale mineral extraction in...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has started providing specific information on post-growth treatments for synthetic diamonds, marking the latest shift in its approach to the category.The institute's Laboratory-Grown Diamond Reports now say if there is evidence of a treatment to change the color of a stone, or if there is no evidence, a GIA spokesperson told Rapaport News...Read More
RAPAPORT... Arctic Canadian Diamond Company has appointed former Northwest Territories (NWT) mining minister Wally Schumann as its senior adviser on aboriginal and northern affairs."[Schumann] joins the company at a very exciting time, as we embark on the next stage of our journey with Ekati, and renew...relationships with our employees, stakeholder communities in the north, the government of the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Belgium's polished-diamond exports fell 6% year on year to $527 million in February, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) reported last week. However, rough trading surged, with imports rising 28% to $877 million and exports increasing 20% to $862 million.Belgium Trade Data for February 2021 Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IGI labs are to start assembling the world's first diamond coins, which are to be traded as a commodity.Their task will be to inspect and authenticate over 50,000 natural diamonds, seal them into transparent coins, each of exactly the same value. The International Gemological Institute (IGI) is partnering with the US-based Diamond Standard, which launched a $25m IPO l...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds has concluded the debt-for-equity restructuring which should secure its future.The UK-listed miner failed to attract a buyer for its three mines in South Africa as revenues plunged and it struggled to repay $650m of debts. The deal it has now struck reduces shareholders' stake in the company to just nine per cent.Its debts have been being replaced by $337m...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds saw an increase in revenue and profits in 2020, despite Covid forcing the closure of its Letseng mine, in Lesotho, between March and May.The London-based miner reported net profits for the year of $24.3m, up almost 130 per cent on $10.6m in 2019. Sales were up 4.2 per cent to $189.6m.Letseng mine, the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports increased 27% year on year in February, reflecting momentum in the market after January's 9% rise. Rough imports were flat at $1.46 billion, according to recent data from the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).India Trade Data for February 2021 Read More
RAPAPORT... A Cartier diamond bracelet that took nearly 2,000 hours to create will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in Hong Kong next month.The piece, featuring a pear-shaped, 63.66-carat, D-color, internally flawless diamond surrounded by rows of rock crystal, will lead the April 20 Magnificent Jewels sale, Sotheby's said Monday. The Art Deco-style bracelet is estimated at $5.2 million to $8...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Liam Neeson is tasked with rescuing diamond workers trapped after a mine collapses in the reaches of northern Canada.The 68-year-old Irish actor stars in a new, action thriller The Ice Road, which Netflix will screen in the US after paying a record $18m for the rights.The streaming giant won the US rights to the movie in what was described as a "record domestic only-deal".Leeson pl...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The billionaire lifestyle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi is revealed in an explosive new book.He's one of 12 Indian nationals who have sought a safe haven in London, and whose stories are told in Escaped: True Stories of Indian Fugitives in London, a Penguin paperback/Kindle by Danish Khan and Ruhi Khan.Last month a judge in Britain approved the extradition of Modi, 49, to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers has handed over $4m to a children's cancer hospital, much of it raised from customer and employee donations.The company, which has almost 2,900 retail outlets worldwide, has raised $81m in the last 22 years for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee, USA."Our partners, their employees and customers continue to have big hearts for...Read More
RAPAPORT... The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has launched a new website to inform the jewelry trade and consumers of the proper terminology for describing lab-grown and natural diamonds.The website - called "What Is a Diamond?" - refers to diamonds as "a mineral consisting essentially of carbon that crystallizes in the isometric (cubic) crystal system," CIBJO said last week. Natural also...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond Standard has launched an initial $25 million offering of new diamond coins, which can be traded on the market as a regulated commodity, similarly to gold.The company will purchase 50,000 natural, round brilliant diamonds through the Diamond Standard Exchange, which will be set into 5,000 tokens and issued at a price of $5,000 apiece. The IGI and the Gemological Institute of Ame...Read More
RAPAPORT... Members of the jewelry industry are confident that US sanctions on Burmese gems will have a positive impact by punishing leaders of the Asian country's military coup without damaging the trade.The Myanmar army seized control of the country on February 1. On February 11, US President Joe Biden's administration banned US companies from transacting with three entities that, it claime...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond Standard has launched an initial $25 million offering of new diamond coins, which can be traded on the market as a regulated commodity, similarly to gold.The company will purchase 50,000 natural, round brilliant diamonds through the Diamond Standard Exchange, which will be set into 5,000 tokens and issued at a price of $5,000 apiece. The IGI and the Gemological Institute of Ame...Read More
Positive trading amid US and China retail recovery. Jewelry continues to perform well as consumers seek meaningful products that retain value. US jewelers optimistic after Senate approves $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and as vaccine rollout gains momentum. Jewelry sales +6% in Feb., Mastercard reports. Large manufacturers emerging from pandemic with improved liquidity, profit and market share. Miner...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Alrosa sold $372m of rough and polished in February, a modest seven per cent increase on last year.By contrast De Beers, its biggest rival, saw comparative sales rise more than 50 per cent.Alrosa described the current balance between supply and demand as "comfortable" both for miners and rough buyers."The recovery in demand for diamond jewelry in key markets well continued in early...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has proposed paying its first dividend since 2016 after annual profit more than doubled on the back of a sales recovery.Net profit jumped to $24.3 million for 2020, compared with $10.6 million in 2019, the miner reported Thursday. The company, which owns the Let??eng deposit in Lesotho, was one of the few major diamond producers to record revenue growth for the year,...Read More
RAPAPORT... The sale of previously owned items could boost luxury companies' revenues by up to 20% in the next 10 years and help it reach a broader audience, according to a report by Bain & Company.Resale will also enable the businesses to generate extra demand for new items, Bain said in its "A Vision of Sustainable Luxury" report, which it released Wednesday in partnership with sustainabilit...Read More