The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30 on lackluster China PMI, shrugging off the interest rate cut announced by the United States' Federal Reserve the day before.The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30...Read More

Plan view of the Phoenix zone A with the ISR test sites indicated. (Image: Denison Mines)SASKATCHEWAN - Denison Mines Corp. of Toronto has installed two ISR wells at the Phoenix uranium deposit at the Wheeler River property near the southeast part of the Athabasca Basin. Denison holds a 90% interest in the project, and JCU (Canada) Exploration Co. holds the remaining 10%.In announcing the news, De...Read More

A spike in nickel prices as a result of a flip-flop decision in Indonesia regarding an ore export ban of the alloying metal failed to offer any support to China's stainless steel market over the past week.Reports of an immediate commencement of the nickel ore export ban in Indonesia had emerged on Monday October 28, but a day later, Indonesian officials said that the prohibition will only come eff...Read More

A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has been scheduled for November 14, a United Steelworkers (USW) union spokesperson told Fastmarkets."We are scheduled to meet on November 14," Manuel Armenta, a sub-district director for USW told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30."The strike is going on, people are on the picket lines," Armenta added, referring to the ongoing picke...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during the morning trading session on Thursday October 31 despite the US Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to cut interest rates for a third consecutive time.As expected, the US central bank lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 1.5-1.75% at the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) October...Read More

Prices for imported flat steel products have declined further or remained low over the past two weeks, and buyers in the United States have shown renewed interest in booking foreign products for the first time since domestic prices began falling this year, sources said. The biggest reason for such sudden interests in offshore products is the expectation that domestic flat-rolled mills may be able...Read More

Polished trading improving as jewelers prepareholiday inventory. US demand supporting the market. China cautious due to tradewar and Hong Kong unrest. Luk Fook 2Q same-store sales -37%. Indian dealers andmanufacturers on Diwali vacation. Specific demand creating high inventory ofless popular qualities. De Beers 2018 global market estimate finds rough sales+3% to $16.9B, production volume -3% to 15...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) has appointed RalucaAnghel to fill a new post as head of external affairs and industry relations,starting November 1. Anghel will be based in London, reporting to CEO Jean-MarcLieberherr, the DPA said Thursday. She will oversee the organization'sinteractions with major trade bodies to ensure the industry works together. Herrole includes leading t...Read More

RAPAPORT... Imagine the following: A diamond-mining company operating with self-driving trucks loads its haul of ore to the processing plant, where rough diamonds are separated from waste and arranged in their rough forms into different sizes before being sent for further aggregation. The goods are fed into machines that determine their color and clarity potential while also assessing where the st...Read More

RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds has launched a small-scale mining initiativeat its Koffiefontein deposit that will provide work for the local South Africancommunity. The miner will give some of its tailings - ore thathas already been treated - to the Koffiefontein Community Mining PrimaryCooperative (KCM) for processing. The company met with the Department ofMineral Resources and Energy, the regul...Read More

RAPAPORT... Secondhand luxury retailer Circa has tapped De Beers Group Industry Services to help it authenticate all diamonds in the jewelry it purchases.Circa will use De Beers detection equipment to testpieces for synthetics before purchasing, as part of a wider collaboration.The two will also conduct joint educational consumer events in Asia, Europe andthe US, and will offer diamond-apprec...Read More

RAPAPORT... US polished-diamondimports fell 25% to $1.3 billion in August, reflecting a decline in volumes andaverage price. Imports were down 11% for the first eight months of the year,according to the latest data from the US Commerce Department. US Trade Data for August 2019Read More

(IDEX Online) - While the price of round diamonds was mostly stable in October, especially for the smaller goods, there was some positive movement in the 0.3 to 0.5 carat rounds. Prices of goods sized 2 carats and above saw more movement with a number of categories experiencing a decline. There was more movement in the prices of fancy goods, especially from 0.70 carats and up. Certain categor...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) has produced a special Pearl Commission report ahead of its annual congress in Bahrain next month. This is the eighth in a series of reports prepared for the congress.The report, prepared by the CIBJO Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, looks at the growing impact of environmental and conservationist factors on the pearl sector. T...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers Group Industry Services today announced it will provide proprietary diamond detection technology to CIRCA. The company is a global buyer of pre-owned fine diamond jewelry and watches.De Beers Group Industry Services will roll-out the detection equipment across CIRCA's global offices, to provide CIRCA's buyers assurance that the diamonds in the jewelry and watches...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Delgatto DIamond Finance Fund (DDFF) has announced it can now offer full commercial bank services through its partnership with The MFO AG, Plaffikon Zurich. This will include cash and investment accounts, the ability to send and receive wire transfers and card services. "Through the Delgatto Diamond Finance Fund we have begun to address the lack of capital available to th...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will make a maintenance stoppage at its Ara??ariguama unit, located in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, during December, which market participants believe could help boost the domestic rebar price.The plant has capacity to produce 950,000 tonne per year (tpy) of crude steel, and has a 600,000-tpy rolling capacity, Gerdau said. The company expects the maintenance st...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds Limited has announced the launch of an Artisanal Small Scale Mining (ASM) initiative in the Free State town of Koffiefontein in South Africa. The miner said it believes there is a space for artisanal miners to co-exist with formalized mining because ASM can often profitably recover diamonds from resources that would be unprofitable for a larger operator because...Read More

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales fell 37% in the second fiscalquarter amid protests in Hong Kong and the continued impact of the US-China trade war. Total same-store sales - at Luk Fook outlets open for morethan a year - in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 39% in the three months endingSeptember 30. Same-store gold sales plunged 46%, while gem-set-jewelrypurchases slid 26%. The figures are...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra Diamonds evacuated the Cullinan Mine earlier this week following a thunderstorm over the weekend that led to an open pit wall collapsing. No one was hurt in the incident and the miner said it does not expect production to be affected.Mining at the open pit was discontinued over 50 years ago.During the incident approximately 3 million tons of material fell into the open pit, w...Read More