(IDEX Online) - Authorities in Angola have seized 6,579 carats of rough diamonds in a crackdown on illegal mining and immigration. Nineteen cars and $275,000 in cash were also confiscated, according to the government-run Angop news agency. Operation Transparency was aimed at more than 700 small diamond prospectors in the country. Two thirds were found not to meet the interior ministry's requ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A parcel of 1,223 carats of alluvial diamonds from the Lulo mine, in Angola, has sold for $1.9 million. The Lucapa Diamond Company is exploring hard-rock kimberlite sources in the Canguige tributary catchment area, which hosts some of the world's most valuable alluvial diamonds. The sale, the second this year, achieved an average price of $1,535 per carat and brings the total...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers and its clients expect a slowdown in rough-diamond sales at the company's Botswana sight this week amid concerns about the coronavirus."It's fair to say there will be an impact on rough demand in the short term," De Beers chief financial officer Nimesh Patel said Thursday in an interview with Rapaport News. "I'd expect we'd see that at the [February] sight."The downturn i...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies reported a loss in 2019, as soft demand in the first nine months outweighed a stronger fourth quarter.The diamond technology company reported a net loss of $1.4 million for the year, compared with a profit of $7.6 million in 2018. An oversupply of rough in the midstream, civil unrest in Hong Kong and tighter bank credit to India's manufacturing sector resulted...Read More
RAPAPORT... Diamond trading in China remains slow, as retail is almost dead, bourses are quiet, and even getting rough goods into the country has hit obstacles. Dealers expect a release of pent-up demand when the coronavirus goes away, but for now, all they can do is manage a difficult situation."There is always demand for diamonds in China, but currently consumers can't go shopping, [as] hardly a...Read More
Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds’ share price on the LSE fell by more than 68% on Tuesday after it announced that it planned to delist from the Aim.A general meeting will be convened on March 13 for shareholders to vote on the proposed delisting. Seventy-five per cent of shareholders will need to vote in favour of the delisting.AdvertisementFirestone explained in a circular to shareholders that...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gemological Science International (GSI) is urging extra diligence after receiving a lab-grown diamond bearing a treatment generally only found in natural stones."Diamond-growing technology continues to improve and growers are trying to mimic natural diamonds in every possible way," GSI chief information officer Nick DelRe said Monday.The organization's Mumbai lab identified a synt...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies reported a loss in 2019, as soft demand in the first nine months outweighed a stronger fourth quarter.The diamond technology company reported a net loss of $1.4 million for the year, compared with a profit of $7.6 million in 2018. An oversupply of rough in the midstream, civil unrest in Hong Kong and tighter bank credit to India's manufacturing sector resulted...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue from the retail division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.5% to $16 billion in 2019, the company reported Saturday.The increase for the segment, which includes jewelry chains Borsheims, Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler, was boosted primarily by the company's car business. Pretax earnings for the entire retail unit grew 1.6% to $874 million for the year...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Over 15,000 visitors attended the IIJS Signature and the India Gem & Jewellery Machinery Expo, in Mumbai. There were many "serious buyers" despite the challenges of coronavirus and the global slowdown, said Colin Shah, vice chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) which organised the events, from 13 to 16 February. They attracted more than 700 exhib...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp.'s sales rose in 2019 as the miner sold a higher volume of rough from its Karowe mine in Botswana.Proceeds for the year increased 9% to $192.5 million, exceeding the company's $170 million to $180 million forecast, it said Monday. A 17% increase in sales volume to 411,732 carats offset a 7% decline in the average price to $468 per carat.Lucara had a strong year...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue from the retail division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.5% to $16 billion in 2019, the company reported Saturday.The increase for the segment, which includes jewelry chains Borsheims, Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler, was boosted primarily by the company's car business. Pretax earnings for the entire retail unit grew 1.6% to $874 million for the year...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara reports a higher-than-forecast eight per cent hike in sales, boosted by some big-stone discoveries at its Karowe mine, in Botswana. Total revenues were $192.5 million (2018: $176.2 million) it said today in its annual results for 2019. Volume of sales was up 17 per cent to 411,732 carats, more than making up for a seven per cent decline in the average price of $468 pe...Read More
Dual-listed Botswana Diamonds on Monday announced that kimberlite, identified by visual inspection, had been intersected at shallow depth in two out of three holes drilled at the Marsfontein project in Limpopo, South Africa.The company has been undertaking a percussion drilling campaign on Thorny River and the contiguous Marsfontein project.AdvertisementThis kimberlite is believed to be associated...Read More
RAPAPORT... Revenue from the retail division of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.5% to $16 billion in 2019, the company reported Saturday.The increase for the segment, which includes jewelry chains Borsheims, Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler, was boosted primarily by the company's car business. Pretax earnings for the entire retail unit grew 1.6% to $874 million for the year...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp.'s sales rose in 2019 as the miner sold a higher volume of rough from its Karowe mine in Botswana.Proceeds for the year increased 9% to $192.5 million, exceeding the company's $170 million to $180 million forecast, it said Monday. A 17% increase in sales volume to 411,732 carats offset a 7% decline in the average price to $468 per carat.Lucara had a strong year...Read More
Vancouver-headquartered Lucara Diamond Corp achieved strong operating results for the year ended December 31, a reflection of the company’s continued focus on safe, reliable operations, president and CEO Eira Thomas said in a statement.She indicated that the company’s strategy had yielded increased productivity at lower costs and provided a solid foundation to support Lucara’s ne...Read More
While the results of an auction of predominantly commercial-quality rough emeralds held in Lusaka, Zambia, from February 18 to 21, had been in line with prior auctions of commercial-quality emeralds, and demonstrated a stable underlying market, there was evident fallout of Covid-19, or the coronavirus, which dampened what might otherwise have been a buoyant result, Gemfields product and sales MD A...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has recovered a 17.44-carat, bright-yellow, gem-quality diamond at its Verkhne-Munskoye deposit, the first colored stone found at the mine since it opened.The stone, recovered in mid-February from the mine in Yakutia, was found in the Zapolyarnaya pipe, one of four kimberlites located at the site. The company plans to assess and evaluate the yellow diamond at its Unite...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) has postponed the sale of HRD Antwerp, and will instead embark on a turnaround strategy for the laboratory."The [AWDC] board of directors and standing committee decided not to sell before the plan is implemented," Ellen Joncheere, HRD's new CEO, said Thursday in an email to Rapaport News.The Belgian trade organization, which owns HRD, asked Jonch...Read More