RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies will modify its diamond-grading equipment to comply with the luxury jewelry retailer's stringentguidelines. Sarine bases its automated grading on the Gemological Institute of America's grading system. However, Tiffany's in-house graders have "discriminating" colorand clarity standards that pose "additional challenges" to the artificial-intelligence-based system...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The IDEX Polished Diamond Price Index showed a little movement in October, with prices rising slightly between the beginning and end of the month. The Index began the month at 120.40 and ended it at 120.97, rising less than 0.5%. Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has announced the appointment of Raluca Anghel as its Head of External Affairs and Industry Relations.In this new position, Anghel will be in charge of leading the development and implementation of the DPA's external engagement strategy.She previously held positions with Microsoft Europe and more recently with the European Parliament.The...Read More
(IDEX Online) - An Alrosa international auction for special size rough diamonds (weighing over 10.8 carats) held in Dubai realized over $7 million. The miner said it sold 112 large rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,740 carats."In Dubai, we sold 75% of auctioned rough diamonds," said Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of ALROSA"This is a good result at the time when tough market is still having an im...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The processing plant at Firestone Diamonds' Liqhobong Mine in Lesotho is operating again after the installation of temporary generators. The generators were brought in when the grid power supply to the mine was cut because of a planned shutdown at the Muela hydropower stationFirestone said the processing plant is operating at between 80-90-percent of full capacity. The ge...Read More
(IDEX Online) - While the price of round diamonds was mostly stable in October, especially for the smaller goods, there was some positive movement in the 0.3 to 0.5 carat rounds. Prices of goods sized 2 carats and above saw more movement with a number of categories experiencing a decline. There was more movement in the prices of fancy goods, especially from 0.70 carats and up. Certain categor...Read More
Production at Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds' Liqhobong mine, in Lesotho, has resumed, after the company successfully installed rented diesel generators to power the mine's processing plant.The diamond miner last month reported that the mine was struggling amid insufficient power supply from the Lesotho grid, as a result of a two-month maintenance shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands Water Pro...Read More
Polished trading improving as jewelers prepareholiday inventory. US demand supporting the market. China cautious due to tradewar and Hong Kong unrest. Luk Fook 2Q same-store sales -37%. Indian dealers andmanufacturers on Diwali vacation. Specific demand creating high inventory ofless popular qualities. De Beers 2018 global market estimate finds rough sales+3% to $16.9B, production volume -3% to 15...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has appointed RalucaAnghel to fill a new post as head of external affairs and industry relations,starting November 1. Anghel will be based in London, reporting to CEO Jean-MarcLieberherr, the DPA said Thursday. She will oversee the organization'sinteractions with major trade bodies to ensure the industry works together. Herrole includes leading t...Read More
RAPAPORT... Imagine the following: A diamond-mining company operating with self-driving trucks loads its haul of ore to the processing plant, where rough diamonds are separated from waste and arranged in their rough forms into different sizes before being sent for further aggregation. The goods are fed into machines that determine their color and clarity potential while also assessing where the st...Read More
RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds has launched a small-scale mining initiativeat its Koffiefontein deposit that will provide work for the local South Africancommunity. The miner will give some of its tailings - ore thathas already been treated - to the Koffiefontein Community Mining PrimaryCooperative (KCM) for processing. The company met with the Department ofMineral Resources and Energy, the regul...Read More
RAPAPORT... Secondhand luxury retailer Circa has tapped De Beers Group Industry Services to help it authenticate all diamonds in the jewelry it purchases.Circa will use De Beers detection equipment to testpieces for synthetics before purchasing, as part of a wider collaboration.The two will also conduct joint educational consumer events in Asia, Europe andthe US, and will offer diamond-apprec...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has produced a special Pearl Commission report ahead of its annual congress in Bahrain next month. This is the eighth in a series of reports prepared for the congress.The report, prepared by the CIBJO Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, looks at the growing impact of environmental and conservationist factors on the pearl sector. T...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers Group Industry Services today announced it will provide proprietary diamond detection technology to CIRCA. The company is a global buyer of pre-owned fine diamond jewelry and watches.De Beers Group Industry Services will roll-out the detection equipment across CIRCA's global offices, to provide CIRCA's buyers assurance that the diamonds in the jewelry and watches...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Delgatto DIamond Finance Fund (DDFF) has announced it can now offer full commercial bank services through its partnership with The MFO AG, Plaffikon Zurich. This will include cash and investment accounts, the ability to send and receive wire transfers and card services. "Through the Delgatto Diamond Finance Fund we have begun to address the lack of capital available to th...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds Limited has announced the launch of an Artisanal Small Scale Mining (ASM) initiative in the Free State town of Koffiefontein in South Africa. The miner said it believes there is a space for artisanal miners to co-exist with formalized mining because ASM can often profitably recover diamonds from resources that would be unprofitable for a larger operator because...Read More
Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer unpacks green worker transport in Chile, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and De Beers’ interest in Cobalt. Advertisement To watch Creamer Media's latest video reports, click here AdvertisementRead More
London-listed Petra Diamonds on Thursday launched its Artisanal Small-scale Mining (ASM) initiative in the Free State.The launch follows a process of consultation and cooperating with relevant stakeholders, including the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Letsemeng local municipality, and the community of Koffiefontein itself.AdvertisementDuring the project, the aim was to create a fr...Read More
RAPAPORT... US polished-diamondimports fell 25% to $1.3 billion in August, reflecting a decline in volumes andaverage price. Imports were down 11% for the first eight months of the year,according to the latest data from the US Commerce Department. US Trade Data for August 2019Read More
RAPAPORT... Three million tonnes of material fell into the open pit of Petra Diamonds' Cullinanmine in South Africa during a thunderstorm Saturday, the companysaid Wednesday. The collapse generated alarge plume of dust, which had "some effect on the local community," Petranoted. As a precautionary measure, the company temporarily evacuated allemployees and closed the mine for a day so that ex...Read More