RAPAPORT... Mumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is on the verge of allowing lab-grown trading, with members due to vote on the matter next week.The board of the world's largest diamond hub has recommended the move, arguing that better detection and increased awareness have made it easier to segregate synthetic stones from natural ones. The poll will take place at the annual general meeting (...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of luxury items in China have increased "exponentially" in 2020, led by growth in consumer demand for jewelry, according to Bain & Company.Purchases of jewelry and leather goods on the mainland have risen approximately 70% to 80% since the beginning of the year, while ready-to-wear clothing and shoes grew about 40% to 50%, Bain noted last week in its China Luxury report, cond...Read More

RAPAPORT... Stargems sold $87.5 million in rough diamonds at a tender in Dubai last week, benefiting from strong trading in the global market for goods above 0.75 carats.Some 115 buyers purchased a combined 379,912 carats at the sale, making it the largest rough-diamond tender in the history of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) said Thursday. The sale f...Read More

RAPAPORT... Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has elected Joseph Esposito as the new chairman of its board of directors.Esposito is executive vice president of National Chain Group, a contract manufacturer and supplier based in Rhode Island, MJSA said last week. As chairman, he will succeed Steven Cipolla, who is president at National Chain Group and has headed MJSA since 20...Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports showed a stabilizing trend in November as buoyant Chinese demand helped ease the decline the industry had seen for most of this year.Global shipments fell 3.2% year on year to CHF 1.94 billion ($2.19 billion) for the month, the gentlest drop since January, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported Thursday. Exports to China skyrocketed 70% to CHF 301....Read More

(IDEX Online) - The iconic Argyle mine, which closed last month, has sold the most valuable fancy vivid diamond in its 37 years of tenders.Owners Rio Tinto aren't disclosing the price paid for the 2.24 carat Argyle Eternity (pictured), which was bought by Harsh Maheshwari, director of Kunming Diamonds, in Hong Kong.Mr Maheshwari, who bought a number of the other 61 rare pink, red, blue and vi...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rio Tinto achieved record value at its 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, with bidders raising their offers for the stones following the mine's closure.There were 62 pink, red, blue and violet stones up for sale, weighing a total 57.23 carats. It allowed participants to view the goods using livestreaming and a virtual portal at locations in Antwerp, Singapore and Perth, Austra...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province has recovered the biggest ever diamond from its Gahcho Kue mine in Canada - a 157.4-carat gem of "exceptional quality".The miner said it was a major morale boost after a year in which the industry had faced immense challenges.Gahcho Kue, an open pit operation approximately 280 km northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, began commercial production in March...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Five major players have shown interest in conducting auctions and tenders when the Angolan Diamond Bourse opens next year.Angola, the world's sixth biggest diamond producer, brought in trading reforms in 2018 that allowed 120 companies to buy stock previously available to just eight "preferential customers".Diamantino Azevedo, the country' minister of mineral resources an...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the close on Monday December 21 amid broad-based profit-taking. Lead was the worst performer, falling 3.9% to $1,959.50 per tonne at the close. Trading volume was relatively low with just over 5,000 lots. Lead stocks on the LME continue to rise, weighing on sentiment for the heavy metal. After big inflows of 13,000 tonne...Read More

The domestic hot-rolled coil price increased day on day in Northern Europe on Monday December 21 following a rise in ArcelorMittal's offers at the end of last week.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?660.40 ($808.93) per tonne on Monday, up by ?,?10.40 per tonne from ?,?650.00 per tonne on Friday.The index was also up by ?,?37.07 per to...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.The operation is said to be on target for maiden copper sales in January."I am happy to confirm that Excelsior Mining is the newest copper producer in the United States," said president and CEO Stephen Twyerould. "Our focus for the coming quarter will be on expanding wellfield operations with the goal of achiev...Read More

Canada-headquartered Lundin Mining has ramped up production at its Chapada copper-gold site in Brazil to full capacity following the repair of a previously damaged motor, the company said on Monday December 21.Chapada had been operating at around 35% capacity in November with only one grinding mill. It then installed a single motor on another mill and reached 100% processing capacity on December 2...Read More

Maximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesThe Toronto, Canada-headquartered company withdrew its 2020 production, cash cost and capex guidance for Chapada in September after a power outage caused damage to all four of the mills' motors.Lundin said Monday it had over the weekend completed installing the last remaining repaired and more powerful motor on the...Read More

First Quantum has named Tristan Pascall its new chief operating officer while also announcing that one of its founders, Clive Newall, will relinquish his role as president.Pascall, who has worked at First Quantum since July 2007, was general manager of the Cobre Panama mine, the only major greenfield project in the copper industry, from its inception in October 2015...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp."Demand for copper, but also aluminium, nickel and cobalt, is going to be absolutely enormous," Rahim told a Jefferies commodities webinar.Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Monday December 21, consolidating from their recent year-to-date highs.The three-month aluminium price fell by 1.4% this morning after nearly 30,000 tonnes were delivered into LME-listed warehouses.Warehouses in Port Klang received 27,875 tonnes of aluminium, while a couple of hundred tonnes was also delive...Read More

Bardoc eyes long-term growth in prime goldfields locationSPONSOREDbardoc goldDrill results multiply value options in front of YandalSPONSOREDyandal resources'Best discovery in my time': De Grey on the march at HemiSPONSOREDde grey miningDecade of performance: Pitram delivers diamond standard for Argyle diamond mineSPONSOREDmicromineThe company said the integration created synergies by comb...Read More

China's Zhuzhou zinc smelter has successfully met its production target of 300,000 tonnes per year in 2020, the company said on December 19, after a costly relocation that had weighed on output in recent years. But this target is still lower than the smelter's capacity prior to relocation. The flagship zinc smelting complex had capacity to produce 450,000 tpy of refined zinc when it was located in...Read More

Prices for cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod in the United States both surged by $5 per hundredweight ($20 per short ton) month on month, supported by higher ferrous scrap prices. Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (high carbon), fob mill US rose by 13.42% to $42.25 per cwt ($845 per ton) on Friday December 18 from $37.25 per cwt the prior month.Fastmark...Read More