JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Lesotho government has permitted diamond mines to reopen from Monday, ahead of the May 5 lockdown extension, Gem Diamonds said on Friday.Mining Weekly can report that Lesotho is authorising diamond-mining’s recommencement in the Mountain Kingdom, contingent on compliance with Covid-19 health and safety guidelines.AdvertisementThe small country surr...Read More

US hot-rolled coil prices have crashed below $23 per hundredweight ($460 per short ton) despite some mills trying to lift prices in tandem with an expected increase in scrap costs in May.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.63 per cwt ($452.60 per ton) on Tuesday April 28, down by 1.7% from $23.03 per cwt on Monday April 27 and down by 4.8% from $2...Read More

RAPAPORT... Technology company Everledger has partnered with De Beers sightholder Shairu Gems Diamonds and Atit Diamond Corporation to offer more transparent data on the goods they supply, as well as a mechanism to offset their carbon footprint.The London-based business, which provides blockchain services to the diamond industry, has teamed up with the suppliers to collect, track and report r...Read More

RAPAPORT... Kering's jewelry and watch divisions have been "hard hit" by COVID-19, dragging revenues down for the first quarter, the French luxury group reported Monday.The company, which owns Boucheron, Pomellato and Qeelin, said income for its "other houses" segment - including jewelry and watches - fell 4.1% to EUR 553.3 million ($597.1 million) in the three months ending March 31.It noted...Read More

The prices for steel billet and rebar in the United Arab Emirates fell over the past week due to weak demand during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as well as the continued effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday April 28. Authorities in the UAE announced a curfew from 10pm to 6am for the month of Ramadan, which started on April 23. Traditionally consumption of steel pr...Read More

Some flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased this week, with the markets very slow because of concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the start of Ramadan, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.No deals were heard during the week, with steel consumption reduced because the Islamic holy month of Ramadan started on April 23, when a...Read More

Prices in the market for steel billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to soften in late April, with some cargoes heard sold to customers in the Middle East with discounts.A large cargo of Ukraine-origin billet was reported sold to Saudi Arabia for around $360 per tonne cfr. According to various sources, the cost of freight would vary within the range of $20-25 p...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices weakened on Tuesday April 28, with sentiment dampened by futures losses amid a drop in raw materials costs. Exporters, meanwhile, expect sellers globally to cut their offer prices amid bid drops, especially when mills remain in pressure to reduce inventories.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,260-3,280 yuan ($460-463) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan pe...Read More

The impact of Covid-19 is undeniably huge. It continues to make its presence felt across all commodity markets, including the ferrous supply chain, from raw materials down to finished steel products. One significant impact that can be tracked closely through spot pricing is the increasing disarray in price correlations between various segments of the ferrous supply chain after the Covid-19 pandemi...Read More

Metals prices were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday April 28 after the promising start to the week faded on Monday, but talk that Chinese provincial governments are offering to subsidize inventory accumulation could well turn out to be a supportive factor. The mixed performance this morning is widespread with Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices on divergent paths, wh...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesCopper production for the quarter increased 42.6% to 195,285 tonnes from 136,969t a year ago while gold production increased 39.4% to 68,788 ounces from 49,357oz.Read More

Editor's Note: Mining Journal is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to Mining Journal, click here Consolidated copper sales were 0.7 billion pounds for the March quarter, with the 2020 estimate now put at 3.1Blb based on US$2.30/lb, down from January's 2020 esti...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesIvanhoe said this week underground development at Kakula had accelerated ahead of schedule, with 13.5km completed - 4.2km ahead of plan. The company said a new development record of 1.Read More

Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico largely decreased in the week ended Friday April 24, with steelmakers applying reductionsfollowing lower monthly settlements in the United States' domestic scrap market.Three major scrap buyers were said to have cut prices by 200 pesos (about $8) per tonne last week. This follows a previous round of price cuts a week earlier. At the same time, two Mexican scrap...Read More

The Turkish steel producers have again gone quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets despite the sharp decrease in prices seen at the beginning of this week, sources said on Tuesday April 28.After around 10 days of silence, a Turkish steel mill booked a Baltic Sea cargo on April 27 at $242 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and $252 per tonne cfr for bonus, which sent the daily scrap indices down by mor...Read More

Seaborne iron ore market prices fell on Tuesday April 28, following the momentum in the iron ore futures curve on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.20 per tonne, down $1.28 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.60 per tonne, down $0.90 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $71.97 per tonne, down $0.50 per t...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Tuesday April 28, with muted trading activity outside of China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.53 per tonne, unchanged.Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $120.18 per tonne, down by $0.88 per tonne.Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.01 per tonne, unchanged.Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $105.94 per tonne, down by $3.50 per tonne...Read More

U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 37 points in pre-opening trade.Pfizer gained $0.77 to $39.10 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings.Merck dropped $1.58 to $82.40 after lowering sales and earnings guidance for remainder of the year. UPS fell $3.58 to $99.00 after reporting lower than consensus first quarter revenues and earnings...Read More

BHP is consulting with relevant stakeholders on options to increase its licensed iron ore export capacity to over 290 million tonnes per year from Hedland, the shipping hub in Western Australia, it told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.Tim Day, BHP acting asset president for Western Australia iron ore, said BHP's focus remains on reaching 290 million tonnes per year in the medium term, but improvem...Read More

Metals prices were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday April 28 after the promising start to the week faded on Monday, but talk that Chinese provincial governments are offering to subsidize inventory accumulation could well turn out to be a supportive factor. The mixed performance this morning is widespread with Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices on divergent paths, wh...Read More