RAPAPORT... Botswana's economic growth slowed last year due to lower rough production, further aggravated by weakness in its diamond-manufacturing sector, the nation's central bank said last week.Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.7% in the 12 months to September 2019, compared with a 5% rise in the previous year. The main factor was sluggish diamond-mining output, which increased 2.1%,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Group revenue at Watches of Switzerland increased in the third fiscal quarter amid strong holiday sales in the UK and US markets.Sales rose 13% year on year to GBP 257.9 million ($329.8 million) in the three months ending January 26, as several brands showed double-digit growth, the company said last week. Like-for-like sales increased 7% during the period, with UK online sales gr...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers' rough-diamond sales declined 28% year on year to $355 million in February as the coronavirus hit demand.Many sightholders took up the miner's offer to delay buying goods destined for China, sources in the rough market told Rapaport News. The company let clients reject certain 1- to 2-carat rough diamonds and reschedule those purchases for later in the year.The coronaviru...Read More

RAPAPORT... The JCK Las Vegas and Luxury shows will take place as planned, their organizer has confirmed, allaying fears the coronavirus would jeopardize the events."At this time of global concern, Reed Exhibitions and Reed Jewelry Group are closely monitoring developments related to the COVID-19 virus," said Sarin Bachmann, Reed Jewelry Group's vice president for the shows, in a statement Tu...Read More

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a white diamond weighing 114 carats at its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the second stone over 100 carats the miner has found this year, it said Tuesday.The company unearthed the "high-quality" D-color stone on Monday. The discovery follows that of a 183-carat, white, type IIa diamond last month. Berenberg investment bank estimated that stone would fetch in...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items in Hong Kong fell for the 12th consecutive month in January amid a sharp downturn in tourism and an early Lunar New Year. Revenue from jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuable gifts slid 42% year on year to HKD 4.92 billion ($632.2 million) during the month, the municipality's Census and Statistics Department reported last week. Sales acr...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers has blamed coronavirus for a significant drop in sales of rough diamonds at its latest sight, held in Botswana last week. The provisional figure for Cycle 2 is $355m, down from $551m at January's sight (Cycle 1) and the lowest since Cycle 8 of last year. The company allowed a number of deferrals from sightholders, especially for smaller stones, under 1-carat, that wou...Read More

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diamond miner Lucapa Diamond Company will raise some A$2.8-million in a share placement to sophisticated and professional investors to advance exploration work at its Lulo kimberlite project, in Angola.The company on Wednesday said that it would issue more than 25.8-million shares, at a price of 11c each, under its existing placement capacity.AdvertisementThe issue...Read More

RAPAPORT... Edward Asscher has retired as president of Royal Asscher, marking his 50th anniversary with the family-run jeweler. His daughter, Lita Asscher and son, Mike Asscher, will take his place as copresidents of the company.The fifth generation of his family to work at the company, Asscher joined the business in 1970, apprenticing with his father and uncle. In 1980 he became president, a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - JCK Las Vegas, the biggest jewelry show in North America, is to go ahead as scheduled, say organizers.The announcement follows a series of cancelations in Hong Kong because of coronavirus, and the news last week that Baselword will not take place this year.JCK Las Vegas attracts over 30,000 of the world's most influential industry professionals, almost a quarter of them from o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - US consumers are staying home, as experts warn the coronavirus could lead to a "retail apocalypse". Malls are braced for a sharp decline in footfall, with 58 per cent of consumers saying they're likely to avoid public areas such as shopping centers and entertainment venues if the outbreak worsens, according to the research and advisory firm Coresight Research. Its survey of al...Read More

The World Diamond Council (WDC) strongly endorses the regional approach taken by the Mano River Union (MRU), in West Africa, to reinforce the effectiveness of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).The MRU held a three-day workshop in Sierra Leone last week to discuss a programme designed to enhance the implementation of the KPCS.AdvertisementDuring the meeting, WDC executive director E...Read More

(IDEX Online News) - After months of almost straight-line stability, prices of polished diamonds declined markedly throughout February. Prices started at 120.78 and fell steadily day by day (aside from one tiny blip) to close the month at 119.35, a fall of 1.27%.IDEX Online members click here for full report Read More

RAPAPORT... The Women's Jewelry Association (WJA) has launched a new consumer-marketing campaign aimed at empowering women to buy jewelry for themselves.March Is Me Month will coincide with International Women's Day, which takes place on March 8, as well as Women's History Month. The goal of the campaign is to get women to buy themselves a piece of fine jewelry during the month, no matter the...Read More

Brazilian mining company Vale has decided to halt operations indefinitely at its Fazend??o iron ore mine in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, after an expansion permit was revoked in February by the local environmental development council.The stoppage was announced by the municipality of Catas Altas - where the mine is located - on Tuesday March 3, and confirmed to Fastmarkets by a Vale spo...Read More

There were new bookings reported in the Turkish deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday March 4, with steel mills expected to hold out until the end of the week, sources told Fastmarkets.The steel mills went quiet at the start of last week, after buying around 750,000 tonnes in February with no new cargoes booked so far in March.The last cargo reported sold, was on Monday February 24,&nb...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Wednesday March 4, with trading activity muted in the spot market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $162.75 per tonne, up $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $175.86 per tonne, up $2.44 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $145.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $156.50 per tonne, unchangedSeabor...Read More

Weaker domestic demand and a number of traders in short-selling positions have led to a drop in Japan export scrap prices over the past week, market sources told Fastmarkets.Lower offer prices from Japanese exporters resulted in increased sales activity from the country to South Korea and Taiwan during the week.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2 export, fob main port Japan, was ?23,...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Wednesday March 4, with the benchmark high-grade brand Iron Ore Carajas and benchmark low-grade, low-alumina Yandi fines attracting higher prices in the seaborne market amid persistent tight supply from Brazil and margins' concerns among steel mills. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.99 per tonne, up $2.44 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fin...Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesIt said a previous gold-only result of 252m at 1.27g/t increased 18.9% to 1.51g/t gold-equivalent when silver and copper mineralisation were incorporated.Read More