POLOKWANE, LIMPOPO (miningweekly.com) – Diversifed miners Anglo American and Exxaro have, alongside the Council for Scientific and industrial Research (CSIR) and World Vision International announced their collaborative partnership to work with the government of the Limpopo province to drive sustainable economic development in the province through a multisector initiative called, the Impact C...Read More
RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales fell 37% in the second fiscalquarter amid protests in Hong Kong and the continued impact of the US-China trade war. Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for morethan a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 39% in the three months endingSeptember 30. Same-store gold sales plunged 46%, while gem-set-jewelrypurchases slid 26%. The figures are...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a diamond weighing 161carats from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho. The miner found the "high-quality" white, type IIa stone onOctober 28, it said. Including this rough, Gem Diamonds has retrieved five white stones over 100 carats this year. It also produced a further three of that size in other colors. In 2018, the mine, known for its large, high-quality st...Read More
RAPAPORT... Private industry loan business Delgatto Diamond Finance Fundhas received $100 million in funding from Crestline Investors. Delgatto, which launched in April 2018, provides credit tothe diamond and jewelry industry. To date, the company has financed over 75companies, including diamond wholesalers and traders, jewelry manufacturers,estate-jewelry and watch dealers, and retailers. "...Read More
RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds is assessing its ability toremain operational, as it struggles with mounting debt and lower prices in theweak market. "From a market perspective, pricing remains subdued,"Firestone CEO Paul Bosma said last week. "The company continues to engage withits debtholders to ensure it can sustain operations through the currentdownturn, and further announcements in this...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company's output rose in the third quarter,as the miner fully transitioned to the higher-grade portions of it Mothae andLulo deposits. The miner recovered 7,007 carats from its Mothae mine inLesotho during the three months ending September 30, exceeding its plan by 30%, itsaid last week. Sales of 4,412 carats from the site, which began commercialproduction in Decemb...Read More
(IDEX Online) - AIM-listed mining company BlueRock Diamonds plc has sold a 20.72-carat gem-quality stone recovered from the Kareevlei Diamond mine for $236,000 ($11,389/carat).The company said this was a record price achieved for a single stone. The previousrecord sale was the 24.8-carat stone sold in June 2019 for $190,000 ($7,862/carat).BlueRock executive chairman Mike Houston said the sale cont...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has appointed Mark Buntz as its senior vice president and chief marketing officer to lead its global marketing efforts and drive the future of the GIA brand. He succeeds Kathryn Kimmel, who retired in August after 30 years with GIA. In his new role, Buntz will support the expansion of GIA's education, laboratory services - includ...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Younger consumers are feeling flush this holiday season and look set to increase their spending this year, according to the latest consumer survey from the National Retail Federation."Younger consumers are helping drive the spending increase this year," said Phil Rist, Prosper Insights executive vice president of Strategy. "They're not just spending on their immediate family m...Read More
Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds on Monday announced that its 40%-owned associate Vutomi Mining had been granted a mining permit for the diamond-bearing gravels and residual unprocessed stockpiles around the iconic Marsfontein mine.Vutomi partnered with Eurafrican Diamond Corporate (EDC) to mine and process the identified deposits on both Marsfontein and Thorny River.AdvertisementEDC has started with...Read More
Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has sold the 20.72 ct diamond recovered from its Kareevlei mine, in South Africa, in September, for $236 000, or $11 389/ct.This is the highest value achieved for the mine to date for a single diamond, surpassing the previous record sale of $190 000 for a 24.8 ct diamond.Advertisement“I am pleased with the recovery and sale of yet another high-value dia...Read More
RAPAPORT... US consumers are planning to spend 4% more this holidayseason, as shoppers between the ages of 18 and 34 expand their circle of giftrecipients, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). "Younger consumers are helping drive the spending increasethis year," Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at ProsperInsights, which ran a survey with the NRF, saidlast we...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa has unearthed a rough stone weighing 232.4 caratsat the Udachnaya pipe, its largest in more than three years. "Such large, gem-quality crystals are extremely rare,"Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of Alrosa, said last week. "Of course, they arepresent at Alrosa's deposits, but we have not seen them since 2016, when twodiamonds weighing over 200 carats were mined." The octahedron...Read More
RAPAPORT... LVMH Mo?<
RAPAPORT... Kering, the owner of high-fashion houses Gucci and YvesSaint Laurent, reported robust sales in its jewelry and watch divisions in thethird quarter amid growth in China and the introduction of new collections. "Jewelry delivered solid growth, with a very good quarter atBoucheron and strong performances from Pomellato and DoDo, while Qeelin pursuedits successful expansion in mainlan...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Reports are rife that LVMH has approached Tiffany & Co about a possible takeover of the U.S. jeweler.According to Reuters, LVMH, which is the world's largest luxury group by sales, submitted a preliminary, non-binding offer to Tiffany earlier this month. Tiffany has reportedly not yet responded to the offer.The merger would give the French company a way to expand into the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sales of fine jewelry and fine watches increased by 2 percent in the U.S. market in August compared to the same month a year ago, as the graph below illustrates. This is the second successive month that sales have increased since the start of the year. While the increases are small, they are sure to come as something of a relief for retailers as they head into the holiday season.&n...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A 50-carat diamond worth $1.84 was stolen from a display at the International Jewellery Tokyo AUTUMN on Thursday. According to reports, the diamond was last seen in a glass showcase at 5pm. An hour later, just after the show closed, the diamond had vanished and the case left unlocked. The stone was displayed by a company from Saitama, north of Tokyo, and was the only item...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Russian diamond miner Alrosa has announced the discovery of a rough diamond weighing over 230-carats at the Udacnhaya kimberlite pipe. The rare specimen is the largest gem-quality diamond found by Alrosa in the past three years. The 232.4-carat octahedron has a yellowish hue and several chips. Its dimensions are 40?'...39?'...23 mm.In the first nine months of the y...Read More
RAPAPORT... US consumers are planning to spend 4% more this holidayseason, as shoppers between the ages of 18 and 34 expand their circle of giftrecipients, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). "Younger consumers are helping drive the spending increasethis year," Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at ProsperInsights, which ran a survey with the NRF, saidlast we...Read More