RAPAPORT... Beryl Raff will leave her role as chairman and CEO of Helzberg Diamonds after 13 years with the company.Raff, who is set to retire on July 1, will continue to advise and consult the executive team at the Berkshire Hathaway-owned jeweler as a nonexecutive chairman, the jeweler said Tuesday. She is the longest-serving nonfamily CEO at Helzberg."Helzberg Diamonds is my family," said Raff....Read More
RAPAPORT... US jewelry sales rose in May amid a return to in-person shopping and a surge in weddings and travel, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.Revenue for the category jumped 22% year on year during the month, the highest growth of all segments Mastercard monitors, it reported Wednesday. The majority of weddings and social events were pushed back during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many consumer...Read More
RAPAPORT... Richemont and Kering have rejoined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) after withdrawing their brands over the Russia controversy, according to the standards organization's chairman."There were 24 companies within those groups that resigned," David Bouffard said at the Rapaport Social Responsibility Conference, which took place Sunday during the JCK Las Vegas show. "Within a m...Read More
Construction work at Skouries started in 2013 but the project has been embroiled in a series of legal disputes with Greek authorities over permitting for the scheme.Read More
RAPAPORT... Sentiment was high as the 2022 JCK Las Vegas show came to an end, with exhibitors reporting solid orders amid an overall upbeat US retail market.Robust consumer spending and shortages of goods supported trading, despite concerns about inflation, interest rates and a stock-market decline. Foot traffic was strong following two years of limited gatherings."We expected the show to be...Read More
Kinross has already received US$300 million in US-denominated cash into its corporate account outside of Russia and will receive the remaining payment of US$40 million on the first anniversary of dealRead More
RAPAPORT... The Las Vegas shows set the tone for the industry moving into the second half of the year. But how was the mood considering the economic and geopolitical headwinds facing the trade, and what does this signal for the market? In this episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast, News Editor Joshua Freedman and Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz discuss sentiment at the shows, along with the big news...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Civil Society Coalition is urging the Kimberley Process (KP) to take a stand against Russian diamonds and own up to the fact that its current definition of conflict diamonds is not broad enough."The KP being unable to even discuss whether it should continue certifying Russian diamonds as conflict free proves what the KP Civil Society Coalition has been denouncing for years, namely...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Diamond miners in Lesotho are urging the government to reconsider new rules that would halt refunds on VAT paid on the goods, services and capital items for day-to-day operations.They say the proposed VAT Amendment Bill would harm the industry, which produced 1.1m carats in 2019.Australian-owned Lucapa, which operates Mothae, the world's highest US$ per carat kimberlite diamon...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A luxury jeweler in Ukraine that started making body armor after the Russian invasion is now sending wedding rings to frontline soldiers.Oberig's manufacturing base in Kharkiv - Ukraine's heavily-shelled second city - has so far contributed more than 6,000 items of body armor to the war effort.And now it's sending silver wedding rings - 148 and counting - to soldiers...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lusix, the solar-powered lab grown company, has announced $90m in an investment round for its Sun Grown Diamonds.LVMH Luxury Ventures is among those funding the Israel-based company, founded by Benny Landa, the "father of commercial digital printing" who sold his company Indigo to HP for $830m.Half the $90m was revealed in February, when the company said it had secured funding from...Read More
CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu minesThe government has successfully implemented changes to benefit the sector including taxation changes, reducing the...Read More
CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu minesGudai-Darri, approved in late 2018, represents Rio's first greenfields Pilbara iron ore development in over a decad...Read More
CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu mines"Canada is home to almost half of listed companies in the mining and minerals space, with a combined market cap of...Read More
CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu minesSome 67% of regional silver production and 56% of our copper production was exposed to water scarcity.Read More
Antofagasta announced a leak in the Los Pelambres concentrate pipeline on June 7. Antofagasta reports that restrictions to access the leak have been partially eased, allowing repairs to begin.Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 29 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for the June Empire State Manufacturing Survey was unchanged versus a drop of 11.60 in May. Actual was a drop of 1.2. Consensus for May Retail Sales was an increase of 0.1% versus a gain of...Read More
Here's the good news: The stock market didn't lose nearly as much today as it did yesterday. The Nasdaq even posted a 19-point gain.Of course the Dow still lost another 151 points and the S&P lost another 14. The S&P slipped into bear market territory yesterday, which doesn't bode well for the economy.Since 1970, whenever the stock market fell 18% or more over a four-month time frame, the...Read More
The S&P is closing in on bear market territory, which is defined as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs.And it may fall even further. Since World War II, there have been 14 bear markets. The median loss during these bear markets has been 30%, and they lasted about a year (hat tip to Bespoke Investment Group).The Kind of Drop We Haven't Seen in DecadesAnd with the Fed ready to raise inte...Read More
Today's red-hot inflation numbers only reinforce the notion that the Fed will aggressively raise rates at next week's FOMC meeting, and also at July's meeting. We don't have to guess at that. The Fed has already told us that's their intention, even before today's report.It may even "shock and awe" investors with a 75-basis-point hike this month or next month. Markets are predicting 50-basis-point...Read More