The president of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network, Mgr. Jos?(C) ??ngel Divasson, hosted a press conference today where he presented the Catholic Church's position regarding the exploitation of mineral resources in Venezuela's southeastern Guayana region. Divasson, who also is the vicar apostolic of the Amazonian town of Puerto Ayacucho, said that not only the church but the entire world is worr...Read More
Botswana's Debswana Diamond Mining, a joint venture between De Beers and the southern Africa country's government, is seeking permission to extend the lifespan of its Jwaneng mine again by digging deeper.Jwaneng, which began operations in 1982, is currently 650 metres deep, but its owners want to deepen the pit to 830 meters (2,700 feet), which will allow continuing operations for another 11 year...Read More
Zimbabwe wants mining firms to list on the local bourse as part of efforts under new president Emmerson Mnangagwa to boost investment and local ownership of its vast mineral resources, a new bill before parliament showed.Mnangagwa, who took power in November when the military ousted Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades, has vowed to revitalise the economy and unlock investment in the mining sec...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), through its Diamonds Do Good nomenclature, launched a profile of Okavango Diamond Company's Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (ODC-YEP) on DiamondsDoGood.com. The program is designed to expose youth in Botswana to the diamond value chain and provide formal entrepreneurship training to assist them in exploring and developing their entreprene...Read More
GABORONE – The world’s most valuable diamond mine is set to get even bigger.Debswana, the joint venture between Anglo American’s De Beers unit and Botswana’s government, is seeking permission to deepen the Jwaneng mine to 830 meters (2 700 feet), according to a notice published in local newspapers Thursday. The Cut 9 project will extend the mine’s life by 11 years, to...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (GZDE), together with senior rough diamond buyers, opened its first Generic Public Course on Rough Diamonds at the end of March. Rough diamonds are unfamiliar to most mainland Chinese companies, the GZDE said. The course includes theory, sharing trading experience, visiting factories, and viewing goods. It attracted diamond industry pla...Read More
(IDEX Online News) - The IDEX polished diamond price index was flat during March following small increases in January and February. &nb...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Pangolin Diamonds Corp. has signed an option agreement to earn up to a 75% interest in the AK10 diamond project located in Botswana, situated 4 km from the AK06/Karowe mine. The option agreement is with Makanwu Civil Blasting (MCB), a private company incorporated in Botswana. "I am extremely pleased with this transaction. The AK10 kimberlite has been under evalu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury goods in Hong Kong grew inthe first two months of the year amid stronger employment rates and increasedtourism. Sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts rose21% to $2.05 billion (HKD 16.1 billion) in January and February, Hong Kong'sCensus and Statistics Department reported Tuesday. It was one of thehighest-grossing retail catego...Read More
RAPAPORT... Herb Bridge, co-chairman of jeweler Ben Bridge and much ofthe force behind its global expansion, died at age 93 on Monday. Bridge grew up in the family-run business, which has been inoperation since 1912, and worked with his father in the store since childhood. Shortly after the US entered World War II, Bridge left thejewelry business and joined the navy, rising to the rank of rear ad...Read More
South African engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts (JSE:MUR) unveiled Tuesday it had been awarded 3.7 billion rand (about $313 million) in mining projects located in sub-Saharan Africa, North America and Australasia.The company, currently subject of a takeover bid from Germany's ATON, said the awarded underground projects included diamond, gold, copper, salt and platinum mines. It a...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jared The Galleria of Jewelry is launching a trade-inprogram for luxury watches at its US stores. Partnering with Crown & Caliber - an online marketplacefor pre-owned luxury timepieces - the jeweler will allow customers to exchangetheir watches for in-store credit, cash, or a new model based on a Crown &Caliber price quote, Jared said last week. Clients can do the trade-in at a...Read More
NAIROBI – While Zimbabwe’s leadership change has sparked a race for the nation’s mineral riches among entrepreneurs and tiny explorers, big-name mining companies are taking a wait-and-see approach.New President Emmerson Mnangagwa has a lot to prove as he seeks to revive the economy and attract mining investment that shriveled under his predecessor, Robert Mugabe. So far, Mnangagw...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) is releasing a seriesof new webinars to help the jewelry industry become more legally compliant. The program, which the organization announced last week,will cover four topics: sexual harassment in the workplace, understandingsynthetics, anti-money laundering requirements, and laws pertaining to privacy,data protection and cybersecurity. The firs...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Out of the 33 entries in the competition that Russian diamond miner Alrosa launched to find a technical solution for resuming mining operations at the Mir deposit, three projects have been awarded the second and third places, but no outright winner was named.The second place was taken by two projects, one of which was presented by employees of Alrosa and the...Read More
Lithoquest Diamonds (TSX-V: LDI) could not be happier for having just recovered one grey and two yellow micro-diamonds from the +0.1 mm to -0.3 mm size fraction at its North Kimberley Diamond Project, located in the northern region of Western Australia.The gems were unearthed at target 0702 in the 1,000-square-kilometre property and recovered from a 10.06-kilogram rock sample submitted for kimberl...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa failed to choose a first-place winner in itscompetition to establish a working plan for resuming operations at its Mirmine, the company said Friday. The Russian miner, which suspended activity at theunderground asset in August of last year following a flood that claimed eightlives, announced the contest this past January. Of the 33 entrants, 10 made itto the final stage and pres...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sarine Technologies Ltd said the court case has ended in Tel Aviv of two Indians who had tried to steal the firm's intellectual property last summer. "Further to our announcement of 23 July 2017, concerning the attempt by two Indian nationals to buy Sarine's Galaxy system's schematics, list of parts and vendors and software source code for $1,000,000, which was offered...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels spring sale in New York willfeature a 33.25-carat, D-flawless diamond pendant necklace with a high estimateof $5 million, the auction house said last week. The event - one of three New York sales Sotheby's will hold thismonth - will also include an array of colored-diamond jewelry. A 7.01-carat,fancy intense pink, SI2-clarity diamond ring is expected to go...Read More
(IDEX Online) - ALROSA has announced the results of the final stage of the competition for proposals for the resumption of mining works at the Mir pipe deposit. The competition committee awarded two projects with the second place. Another project took the third place. The technical solutions proposed will be used during the development of the mining works resumption concept, the firm said....Read More