RAPAPORT... Two white lab-grown diamonds from De Beers' Lightbox brandhave G color and VS clarity, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) saidafter examining the stones. Lightbox doesn't offer grading reports for its products, andhadn't previously publicized their specific quality characteristics. The GIAobtained the 0.24-carat and 0.26-carat polished stones from a "third-partyvendor," accordi...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds' sales slumped in the fourth quarter as theminer produced fewer valuable stones at its Let??eng mine. Proceeds fell 40% year on year to $41.7 million in the threemonths ending December 31, the miner said Thursday. While sales volume rose 5%to 33,140 carats, the average price dropped 43% to $1,259 per carat, reflecting"lower-quality recoveries" at the lucrative mine in...Read More
RAPAPORT... February is a crucial time for Canada's diamond mines.Located in the most remote region of the country's frozen Northwest Territories(NWT), Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond Mines and De Beers have a two-month windowto connect their mining operations to the outside world. The winter ice road, officially known as the Tibbitt toContwoyto Winter Road (TCWR), opened on February 1, marking t...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Eli Avidar, CIBJO Vice President, has resigned his position at the World Jewellery Confederation, announcing that he plans to run for national political office during the parliamentary elections for the Israeli Knesset which will take place on April 9. "Five years ago I had the honor and the privilege to be invited to join the CIBJO Board of Directors by the President, Dr. G...Read More
(IDEX Online) - HRD Antwerp has graded what it says is the world's first ring that is entirely made from a lab-grown diamond made by Dutch Diamond Technologies (DD). 'Project D', DD's name for the ring, took a year to manufacture and was created in honor of the company's 10th anniversary, HRD said. "The ring was made from a large piece of a 155-carat rough CVD lab-grown diamond whic...Read More
RAPAPORT... A client of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)wrongly submitted a natural diamond as a lab-grown stone, the organizationsaid.The GIA's Carlsbad laboratory recently received the round brilliant,2.23-carat, D-color diamond, which the customer had sent in for asynthetic-diamond grading report. "When a declared synthetic diamond is submitted to a GIAlaboratory, it is not often that...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds reported an average price of US$2,131 per carat for 2018, up 10% from US$1,930 per carat in 2017. The company said that demand and prices for its large, high-quality white rough diamonds from its Let??eng mine in Lesotho have remained firm. Following the end of the end of its fourth quarter on December 31, strong pricing was achieved at its first tender o...Read More
Angola's state-owned diamond firm Endiama sees production rising to 13.8 million carats in 2022 compared with 9.5 million carats forecast for this year, a senior official said on Wednesday.Production in 2018 was 9.4 million carats, Endiama's director of geology, Kapingana Mandavela, told an African mining conference.(By Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)Read More
RJK Explorations (TSXV: RJX.A) announced this week that it has entered into a property option agreement with Anthony "Tony" Bishop for the Bishop Nipissing diamond properties in Ontario, Canada.Kimberlite on Bishop Nipissing Diamond Claims. Photo by RJK.In a press release, RJK said the exploration properties total 2,090 hectares encompassing at least 18 potential kimberlite pipes located approxima...Read More
Relatively stable carat recovery and sales contributed to a strong performance for LSE-listed Gem Diamonds in the fourth quarter ended December 31.Gem on Thursday reported that it had recovered three diamonds larger than 100 ct at its Letšeng mine, in Lesotho, during the quarter, taking the number of diamonds larger than 100 ct recovered during 2018 to 15 – a record for the company.A...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Europe have been stable over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices are expected to increase later this month following the rise in official offers, market participants said.Some European steelmakers, including ArcelorMittal, increased their official offers which pushed offers for flat steel products up by ?,?30 ($34) per tonne at the...Read More
(IDEX Online) - ALROSA held its first auction this year for special size (over 10.8 carats) rough diamonds in Israel. The company sold 92 large rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,570 carats. The overall revenue from sales amounted to $9.6 million. Firms from Israel, Russia, Hong Kong, Belgium, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States participated in the auction, the miner...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers Limited announced three new agency partners to improve the effectiveness of its investments in advertising and marketing, and in support of the three strategic priorities of its Path to Brilliance transformation plan - Customer First, OmniChannel, and a Culture of Agility and Efficiency. "Our newly announced agency partners will contribute to Signet's Path to...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail sales will grow 3.8% to 4.4% this year, despiteeconomic concerns and trade tensions, according to the National RetailFederation (NRF). "We believe the underlying state of the economy is sound,"NRF CEO Matthew Shay said Tuesday. "Many people are working, they're makingmore money, their taxes are lower, and their confidence remains high." The organization expects total sa...Read More
CAPE TOWN – Angola's State-owned diamond firm Endiama sees production rising to 13.8-million carats in 2022 compared with 9.5-million carats forecast for this year, a senior official said on Wednesday.Production in 2018 was 9.4-million carats, Endiama's director of geology, Kapingana Mandavela, told an African mining conference.AdvertisementTo watch Creamer Media's latest video repor...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) reported that diamond trading was balanced in 2018, with imports and exports of rough and polished in line with the year-earlier figures. Exports of polished goods were down 4.5% on the year in volume terms to 4.79 million carats, but up slightly in value to $11.45 billion. Exports of rough stones declined on the year by 5% to 1...Read More
RAPAPORT... The government of South Korea has abolished a 26% individualconsumption tax (ICT) on the import of polished diamonds, following talks withits bourse. In December, the government agreed to simplify the taxsystem for diamond importers by replacing it with a 5% import tax and a 10% value-addedtax (VAT), the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) said Tuesday. That came after a f...Read More
Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal reported an 8.9% year-on-year decrease in its worldwide earnings in the fourth quarter of 2018 on Thursday February 7.The company's quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) dropped to $1.95 billion in October-December 2018, down from $2.14 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. The decrease was driven by reduced shipmen...Read More
RAPAPORT... Thieves have broken into a bank vault near Antwerp's diamonddistrict, with some clients in the dark about whether their goods have beenstolen. Daring burglars entered the BNP Paribas Fortissecure area via a sewage pipe on Sunday, emptying about 30 deposit boxes,according to local media. The bank and local police couldn't say whether any diamondswere stolen. Clients were lining up at t...Read More
Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has recovered an exceptional 8.97 ct diamond at its Kareevlei mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa.This will be the third diamond to be recovered at Kareevlei that is independently valued at more than $50 000.AdvertisementA diamond weighing 7.76 ct was recovered in 2017 and sold for $10 070 /ct and a diamond weighing 10.58 ct was recovered in 2018 and sold for...Read More