JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwe, which has the world’s second-biggest platinum reserves, may lift a requirement that companies mining the metal or diamonds must be at least 51%-owned by black citizens of the country, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said.Mnangagwa, who became president in November after Robert Mugabe resigned under pressure from the military, has announced that the ownership requi...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Sarine Technologies Ltd has announced the official launch of its new Meteorite?,,? system for the cost-effective inclusion mapping of very small rough stones, under 0.35 carats. Based on the Meteor?,,? system, the Meteorite is "the most cost-effective solution currently available in the industry, to provide inclusion mapping for the segment of very small rough diamonds below...Read More
RAPAPORT... Damiani Group saw sales edge up in the fiscal first half as theItalian jeweler expanded its retail business in markets outside its homecountry. Total revenue climbed 0.2% to $85.7 million (EUR 69.9million) year on year in the six months that ended September 30, the companyreported last week. Retail sales increased 11% to $46.7 million (EUR 38.1million), outweighing a 10% slide in...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diamond major Alrosa has signed 67 long-term agreements for the sale of gem quality and industrial rough diamonds, 12 of which are agreements with Russian companies.Of the eight Russian companies that are buying rough diamonds from Alrosa, three are new clients – Aives, Diapur and Kristalldiam.AdvertisementThe new list comprises 22 companies registered...Read More
The International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI), organized by the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) from February 5-7 will feature an auction of special large rough diamonds by ALROSA, a world leader in the production of gem-quality diamonds. The total carat weight of the auction is 1,905 carats, and includes a 37.38-carat diamond. More than 100 clients have already registered for the auction,...Read More
RAPAPORT... Damiani Group saw sales edge up in the fiscal first half as theItalian jeweler expanded its retail business in markets outside its homecountry. Total revenue climbed 0.2% to $85.7 million (EUR 69.9million) year on year in the six months that ended September 30, the companyreported last week. Retail sales increased 11% to $46.7 million (EUR 38.1million), outweighing a 10% slide in...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) has appointed TerryBoot as its new CEO, it said Tuesday. Boot (pictured), previously the UK group's head of finance and businessoperations, has been acting as interim CEO since August, after the departure of10-year company veteran Willie Hamilton. "I stated at the AGM in August that our main businessobjective is to ensure we are putting the focus f...Read More
Finland's mining authority has granted Ireland's Karelian Diamond Resources (AIM: KDR) a four-year exploration claim in the Kaavi region, located in the eastern part of the country. This license provides the holder with an exclusive right to apply for a mining permit. The 28.84-hectare property is close to Karelian's Lahtojoki mining operation, which is en route to becoming the first diamond mine...Read More
Barely a week after finding the world's fifth-biggest diamond in history, Africa-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) has unearthed yet another massive rock at its flagship Let??eng mine in Lesotho.The 149-carat, D colour, Type IIa rough diamond is the fourth high quality stone of over 100 carats the company has recovered so far this year at its prolific mine. Earlier in the month the miner discover...Read More
RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond exports increased 2.1% to $23.09billion in 2017 as the nation shipped out a higher volume of goods. By weight, exports jumped 14% to 37.3 million carats, whilethe average price slipped 11% to $620 per carat, Rapaport calculations show. Netpolished exports - representing exports minus imports - jumped 3.8% to $20.71billion, according to the figures, which are ba...Read More
RAPAPORT... Jewelers of America picked the winners of its 16th annual GEM Awards, held on Friday in New York. Irene Neuwirth of Irene Neuwirth Jewelry won in the jewelry-design category for her modern style using raw, unmanufactured gemstones, while Marion Fasel took home the prize for media excellence for online magazine TheAdventurine.com.The retail-innovation award went to Moda Operandi, which...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – LSE-listed Gem Diamonds on Monday reported that it has the recovered a 149 ct, D-colour Type IIa diamond, with excellent shape, from its 70%-owned Letšeng mine, in Lesotho.This is the fourth high-quality diamond of over 100 ct recovered so far this year, and follows closely upon the recovery of the exceptional 910 ct diamond on January 15.Letše...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales rose 4.7% in the fiscal first half asgrowth in Canada and New Zealand outweighed a weaker performance in the US. Group revenue increased to $273.1 million (AUD 341.5million) in the six months that ended December 31, the jewelry retailer said in a recenttrading update. Same-store sales - those at branches open for at least a year -climbed 0.5%. Total sales in New Ze...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has unearthed its fourth 100-carat-plus diamond this year from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the company reported Monday. The discovery of the D-color, type IIa stone followsthe recovery of a 910-carat, D-color diamond from Let??eng last week, believed tobe the fifth-largest rough in history. The miner also uncovered two D-colorstones weighing 117 carats and 110 carats ear...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Hilde Hardeman, a foreign services chief for the European Commission (EC), is to serve as the Chair of the Kimberley Process this year. Hardeman heads the EC's Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), a body which runs some part of the European Union's diplomatic work. The EU announced earlier in January that the KP Chair position would be held by Federica Mogh...Read More
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A new report has revealed explosive growth in the number of artisanal and small-scale miners worldwide over the past two decades amid rising mineral prices and a general struggle in earning a living from agriculture.The Intergovernmental Forum (IGF) on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development estimated a more than doubling in the number of artisa...Read More
RAPAPORT... Hilde Hardeman will be the chair of the Kimberley Process for2018, the European Commission (EC) has confirmed.Hardeman is head of the EC's Service for Foreign PolicyInstruments (FPI), which manages aspects of the European Union's diplomacy. She will take charge of the KP on behalf of the EU, thisyear's chair, an FPI spokesperson said in an email to RapaportNews Friday. Earlier this mon...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Diamond Manufacturers and ImportersAssociation of America (DMIA) reelected Ronnie VanderLinden (pictured) as president forthe 2018-to-2020 term. DMIA members voted in Saul Goldberg, Eli Haas, Matthew Schamrothand Fred Knobloch as vice presidents of its executive board, while Parag Shahwas chosen as vice president and treasurer. Stuart Samuels will fill therole of secretary. Ad...Read More
RAPAPORT... The US jewelry industry continued to downsize in 2017, with 26,031 businesses operating at the end of the year, down 3.8% from the previous year, the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) reported. Some 1,022 jewelry companies closed during the year, while 156 opened, data the JBT released last week showed. Out of the closures, 852 were for reasons other than financial difficult...Read More
RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto expects diamond production of between 17 million and 20 million carats in 2018, representing a decrease in output compared to last year. The company did not explain the expected drop.Diamond production in 2017 grew 21% to 21.6 million carats, driven by a 23% jump in output at its Argyle mine in Australia. The company also owns a 60% stake in the Diavik mine in Canada, where p...Read More