In a blog toward the upcoming Intersessional of the Kimberley Process in Mumbai, World Diamond Council (WDC) president Stephane Fischler expressed his concern that the "stakes are not equally high along the value chain. While in many of the mining regions and in a number of the processing centers diamonds are a primary source of income and community development, in the countries where polished dia...Read More
Alrosa, the world's leading diamond miner in volume, held an exclusive tender of polished diamonds in Israel. The tendered diamonds were all cut and polished by Alrosa's own manufacturing plants that operate under the supervision of the company's cutting division, DIAMONDS ALROSA, which also organized the tender. In Israel, the company sold 14 polished diamonds at a total weight of...Read More
GJEPC Chairman Pramod Agrawal spoke at the opening of the India Silver & Fashion Jewellery Buyer Seller Meet (BSM), in the pink city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, addressing some of India's gem and jewelry most pressing issues . He reported that the GJEPC had been talking with the Indian government to address major banking issues affecting the gem and jewelry industry. Among the topics raised...Read More
RAPAPORT... Online retail giant Amazon has implemented a new tieredreferral fee that will reduce the cost of selling jewelry and watches on itssite. The change will primarily apply to the retailer's partnersoffering higher-priced luxury items, and could potentially attract more sellerswho wouldn't have listed under the steeper rates. The new fees took effect onJune 5, according to Amazon's se...Read More
RAPAPORT... The community of Fandehun is not used to pomp and ceremony.The modest village in the heart of Sierra Leone's Kono District has beensustained by diamond mining for over 50 years but lacks the basics many takefor granted - notably, safe drinking water. Women, and often children, walkmiles to fetch water from a neighboring village, and they tend to use the samesource for all their ne...Read More
RAPAPORT... Geologists have discovered the first new kimberlite pipe in over 20 years at the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in Canada, shareholder Mountain Province reported Tuesday.The find comes nearly three years after production launched at Gahcho Ku?(C), a joint venture between Mountain Province and De Beers Canada. Mining is focused on three kimberlite pipes, and the new discovery - named Wil...Read More
Glenn Nord, a former president of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) passed away on Sunday, June 9. Throughout his more than 50-year association with GIA, Nord was a student, instructor, president and member of the Institute's Board of Governors. GIA published a news release that said that Nord's "contributions are numerous, his influence far-reaching and his legacy enduring. His...Read More
Alrosa, the world's largest diamond miner in volume, said that in May of this year it had sold $266 million of rough and polished diamonds. Rough diamond sales amounted to $261.1 million, while polished diamond sales stood at $5 million. The Russian miner's total rough and polished diamond sales in the January-May period came to $1.589 billion - $1.5649 billion of rough and $24.1 million...Read More
For more than 1000 years, India was the world's principal producer of diamonds, with Arabs and Persians dominating the trade between India and Europe. In those days, diamonds were valued mostly for their talismanic properties or as carving tools, owing to their extreme hardness and the fact that it was impossible to cut and polish them into beautiful gems. On June 19, Christie's in New...Read More
A license to operate a diamond mine in Angola has returned to the state because the company to which it had been granted, Sociedade Mineira de Camachia Camagico, had accumulated debts in excess of US$530 million, it was reported in the Angolan press. The decision announced on Saturday by the president of Angolan diamond company Endiama, Ganga Junior, is due not only to debts to creditors, supplier...Read More
TSX- and Nasdaq-listed Mountain Province Diamonds has discovered a new kimberlite at its Gahcho Kué joint venture (JV) leases – the first to be discovered in the area in more than two decades.The Wilson kimberlite, which was named after Canada’s first female geologist, Alice Evelyn Wilson, is located about 200 m east of the Tuzo kimberlite and is well within the openpit mine pla...Read More
Marange villagers have expressed unhappiness after military backed Anjin Investments, that left a trail of destruction and empty promises resurfaced to start operations under unclear circumstances, various media sources in Zimbabwe reported . Anjin Investments was part of the multi company regime which commenced formal diamond mining at Chiadzwa after the discovery of the precious mineral. Its sha...Read More
RAPAPORT... The community of Fandehun is not used to pomp and ceremony.The modest village in the heart of Sierra Leone's Kono District has beensustained by diamond mining for over 50 years but lacks the basics many takefor granted - notably, safe drinking water. Women, and often children, walkmiles to fetch water from a neighboring village, and they tend to use the samesource for all their ne...Read More
While Stornoway Diamond Corp continues with a strategic review aimed at ensuring the long-term viability of its Renard mine, in Quebec, the company has received financial backing from its secured lenders and key stakeholders.Under the terms of the bridge financing agreement, Diaquem, an affiliate of Investissement Québec, has agreed to advance an estimated C$11.7-million by way of access to...Read More
RAPAPORT... Stornoway Diamond Corporation is looking for investors to help salvage its Renard mine, as the company continues to incur high financial losses. The miner called for offers to purchase its Canada operations after receiving $11.7 million in bridge financing - a short-term loan to maintain Renard until it can secure permanent financing or pay off existing debt, Stornoway explained T...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies has partnered with 14 diamond manufacturers on its Diamond Journey provenance program, enabling retailers to tap a growing resource of polished stones certified through the initiative. "We expect to have tens of thousands of documented diamonds by year-end," Sarine CEO David Block said Monday. "With over 70 million diamonds being processed by Sarine's inst...Read More
RAPAPORT... Glenn Nord, the third president of the Gemological Instituteof America (GIA) and a pioneer of its corporate training program and globaloutreach, died Sunday aged 90. "Glenn Nord was a committed advocate for GIA's mission, andfor our students and the GIA staff," GIA president Susan Jacques said Monday."His business acumen and wisdom, shared over decades with GIA management andthe board...Read More
RAPAPORT... Russian authorities have detained three members of an alleged criminalgang accused of stealing and selling high-quality diamonds belonging to Russianminer Alrosa. The thefts, which allegedly occurred over an extended period, werecommitted by an Alrosa employee working in its sorting andgrading department, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation claimed Monday. She c...Read More
Diamond manufacturers in Surat, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad are reported to have halved their production capacity following a sharp fall in prices of polished diamond and to prevent the build-up of excess inventory in a slow, depressed market. Melee prices are reported to have fallen as much as 25 percent since the beginning of this calendar year. About 20 percent of the 4,000 diamond polishin...Read More
Sarine Technologies Ltd. announced the launch of the Sarine Diamond Journey, an official partners' program with select diamond midstream suppliers. Following the Sarine Diamond Journey provenance tracking program's launch earlier this year, significant interest has been expressed by retailers interested in sourcing Sarine Diamond Journey documented goods. One of the major advantages of s...Read More