Diamond Fields Resources, based in Vancouver, sold 47,298 carats of Namibian marine diamonds for $1,105,530 at a tender in Antwerp, including a 5.71 carat pink diamond which sold for $97,076 or $17,000 per carat. This was the first sale of diamonds from the ML111 licence offshore Namibia since mining resumed in 2018.

Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa has released it results for FY 2018, reporting a 6% increase in the value of diamonds sold to $4.4 billion, and a 9% rise in revenue despite an 8% decline in the volume of goods sold, totalling 38.1 million carats for the year. The miner attributes the increase in sales and revenue to stronger prices and improved mix of gem-quality diamonds. While Q4 diamond sales increased 34% q-o-q to 9.0 m carats, the main increase was from industrial quality diamonds, causing Q4 sales to decline 13% q-o-q (-7% y-o-y) to $824 million as large-size diamond sales fell.

Gem Diamonds Ltd. has sold a 13.33 carat pink diamond on tender in Antwerp for $8,750,360. The price achieved sets a new high on a dollar per carat basis for a Letšeng diamond, at $656,933. For the sake of comparison, over the course of the 2018, Gem recovered a 138.28-carat white diamond which achieved US$60,428 per carat - the highest dollar per carat for a white rough diamond during the year - and a a 4.06 carat, pink diamond that earned US$64,067 per carat - the highest price per carat achieved during 2018. 

Searching for a means to safeguard smooth transactions in the event it ends up having US sanctions imposed on it, Russia's Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds, has found a partner in its efforts to conduct trade in a currency other than the US dollar. Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa’s director of sales, told the South China Morning Post that it has enlisted one of its many Chinese customers - Chow Sang Sang Jewellery - on a long-term contract this year.

Gem Diamonds, which operates the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, recovered four high-quality diamonds larger than 100 carats in January 2018 and never looked back, riding a record number of +100-carat diamond recoveries in a single calendar year (15) to increased revenues and profit, but they have declined to pay out a dividend. The first big find of the year was the exceptional 910-carat Lesotho Legend, which the miner sold last March for $40 million.

Diamond-rich Botswana expects mineral revenues in the 2019/20 fiscal year to drop by 4 percent to 13.6 billion pula ($1.26 billion) due to a decline in royalties and dividends, a minerals ministry budget document showed last week. Botswana is heavily dependent on its diamond resources which, according to the World Bank, is responsible for 25% of the country's GDP, approximately 85% of exports earnings and about one-third of the government's revenues.

Russian diamond miner Alrosa sold $340.6 million worth of rough diamonds and diamond powder in February 2019. While such a result is very low for this time of the year - a 36% decline from last February, when the Alrosa sold $532.8 million - it is nonetheless a 22% improvement over the $278.2 million revenues achieved last month, which gives some hope that the polishing wheels are turning again. For the first two months of the year, Alrosa's rough sales are down 40% from 2018, falling to $618.8 million from $1.032 billion last year. 

Diamcor Mining, a publicly traded junior diamond mining company based in Canada and operating in South Africa, sold 1,220 carats of rough diamonds recovered from ongoing processing exercises performed at its Krone-Endora at Venetia Project in South Africa for US$376,000, achieving an average sale price of $308.06 per carat. This represents an increase of 76% compared to the company’s average price per carat of $176.16 realised on all rough diamonds tendered and sold to date, and included the sale of a 44 carat gem quality rough diamond.

With 86 percent of all rough diamonds flowing through Antwerp on their journey from mine to market, trends from the diamond capital give a fairly good indication of what is happening in the rough trade globally. According to February's figures from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the trade in smaller, lower-priced goods is picking up again, but this does not mean demand is robust, as prices continue to tumble - something that cannot be said for the polished trade, where prices remain high.

De Beers sold $490 million worth of rough diamonds in Cycle 2 2019, holding steady at just $10 million less than their January sale but at a lower level than last year. The miner's sales fell 13% compared to the $563 million sold at their second sight last year, and combined sales for the first two sights of the year have fallen by 20% compared to 2018.

Trans-Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) held their first tender of 2019 this month from 12 - 19 February in Dubai, selling a record $50.1 million worth of rough diamonds, as per a press note from the company. The sale featured a total of 79,213 carats of high-quality stones, included exceptional, special rough diamond collections with large and single stones from Angola, Namibia and South Africa. TAGS said the tender achieved an average price of $633 per carat.

Australian junior miner Lucapa Diamond Co. held the first sale of diamonds at the Bonas tender house in Antwerp from the new 1.1Mtpa Mothae kimberlite plant in Lesotho, marking the mine's arrival on the international market. The parcel of 5,411 carats of rough diamonds recovered during the plant ramp-up phase in Q4 2018 and in the first month of commercial mining operations at Mothae in January 2019 sold at tender in Antwerp for a total of US$3.8 million.

Rio Tinto's 2018 diamond profits increased by 28% to $118 million from $92 million a year earlier despite a slight downtick in revenues from diamond sales, which fell 1.6% to $695 million from $706 million in 2017. The miner's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 4.9% to $301 million from $287 million in 2017, while capital expenditures declined 25% to $64 million..

Tender house Koin International will hold their regular tender for South African miner KEM (Kimberley Ekapa Mining) from 4 - 8 March in Antwerp  This is a full Run of Mine production of 50,000cts including melee through to 10.80+ single stones and fancy colors. In addition, the sale will include KoinDex, Koin International’s innovative new monthly tender with ‘Trigger Pricing’. The “Trigger Price” is a displayed price which means buyers have access to a guaranteed sell point.

Viewings will take place by appointment in Antwerp at the offices of Koin International.

The Kimberley Process (KP) is set to adopt a draft resolution that opens up the potential to expand its mandate beyond the narrow confines of eliminating 'conflict diamonds' as currently defined. The draft resolution is entitled "The role of diamonds in fuelling conflict: breaking the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict as a contribution to prevention and settlement of conflicts," which it will include in the provisional agenda of its next session, committing the KP to discuss a report on the implementation of the Kimberley Process.

A delegation of ministers and miners from the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho visited the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and its Diamond Office today for the final days of the first run-of-mine tender of diamonds from Lucapa's Mothae mine, held at Bonas tender house. About 5,000 carats will be up for grabs in Antwerp and is said to include specials from Mothae, featuring high color whites weighing 78 carats and 38 carats as well as an 89-carat yellow. We will provide additional information from the sale when available.

ALROSA, the largest diamond mining company in the world, held international auction for special size rough diamonds (over 10.8 carats) in Dubai.  The overall revenue amounted to $8.3 million. The company sold 121 rough diamonds with total weight of 1,950 carats. Firms from UAE, India, Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, Russia and the USA participated in the auction, and 31 firms were recognized as winners in different positions.

Despite a record year for the recovery of 'specials' (diamonds larger than 10.8 carats), including 33 diamonds in excess of 100 carats, Lucara Diamond earned its lowest revenue in six years due to the lowest average price per carat achieved in five years. Judging by their share prices, however, investors hardly seemed too concerned, as Lucara's stock price took an 8% dip following the announcement, only to regain half its loss back the next day.

De Beers reported a 4% rise in total revenue for FY 2018, reaching $6.1 billion, but its earnings slid by 13% to $1.25 billion driven by expenditures such as the $87 million acquisition of Peregrine Diamonds and the launch of Lightbox Jewelry. Rough diamond sales rose by 4% to $5.4 billion (2017: $5.2 billion), driven by improved overall consumer demand for diamond jewelry and a 1% increase in the average rough diamond price index.

HRD Antwerp, Europe’s leading reference for diamond and gemology education, diamond certification and grading, this summer (June 3-7) is launching a course in Rough Diamond Management and Production Control. The course will introduce the business concepts required to acquire and trade rough diamonds, foremost among which are various techniques for determining the value of rough stones, the key component at the basis of any career in rough diamond trading and management.

Angolan president Joao Lourenço came into power about 18 months ago, stating his intention to fully reform the country's diamond industry, and his progress has been undeniable. Starting with untangling the country from the business interests of his predecessor’s family - president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his daughter Isabel dos Santos - he set out to increase transparency and promote the country ́s image abroad in order to facilitate the exportation of goods and services and attract direct foreign investment. Lucapa Diamond Co.

Petra Diamonds, owner of one of the world’s most famous diamond mines - the Cullinan mine in South Africa - could be about a decade away from clearing its multi-million-dollar debts, according to Reuters. As Emma Rumney and Barbara Lewis explain, Petra bought Cullinan in 2008, "aiming to breathe new life into the South African mine renowned for yielding the largest rough gem diamond ever found - 3,106 carats - and being the world’s main source of rare blue diamonds.

Russia's Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond miner, could not escape the current trend on the rough diamond market at the start of 2019, as its rough diamond sales plunged by 44% to $278 million from $499 million in January 2018. This is in sharp contrast to December sales, however, when rough sales increased by 46% over the previous year. Polished-diamond sales in January were $3.4 million, bringing total sales for the month to $281.5 million.

Diamond tender house Koin International will hold two rough diamond tenders for original African productions this February in Antwerp. From 11 – 14 February, Koin will tender the KEM (Kimberley Ekapa Minerals) production from Kimberley, South Africa. This is a full Run of Mine tender including large single stones and fancy colors. KEM's sought-after production was previously offered only in South Africa, but Koin held a successful initial tender in Antwerp last August-September.

Lucapa Diamond Co. sold seven large, top-quality diamonds weighing 498 carats at the inaugural competitive tender under Angola’s new diamond marketing policy, earning US$16.7 million, representing an average price of US$33,530 per carat. The exceptional stones from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola were offered for sale via electronic tender organised by Sodiam (Angolan state diamond marketing company) in Luanda.

Mountain Province Diamonds will include in its upcoming, February rough diamond sale an exceptional quality, 60.59-carat, fancy vivid yellow rough diamond. The diamond was recovered at the Company’s Gahcho Kué Mine in October 2018. Also included in the sale will be more than 50 other large, high-quality white and fancy-colored rough diamonds. Viewings will take place between February 11 to 21 at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn in Antwerp, Belgium.

South Africa-focused miner Petra Diamonds has seen its shares tumble 27% since Monday's announcement of its H1 2019 results, despite an 8% increase in sales and a 10% rise in production.  The culprit? Near-historical low prices earned from its rough diamonds from its flagship Cullinan mine. Prices achieved from the miner's Cullinan goods slumped 31% compared to last year, earning just $96 per carat, and compared to a nine-year average of $140 per carat from 2009 to 2018, the miner said. 

De Beers' first sight of the year provided no indication that the sluggishness of the market for lower value rough is ready to subside. The January sight is typically one of the largest of the year, as manufacturers restock after the Christmas season in preparation for the holidays ahead, including Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day. De Beers rough sales in Cycle 1, however, were much lower than the two previous starts to the year.

Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa expanded the long-term customer list for the three-year contract period 2018-2020, and has added two Belgian companies to its ALROSA ALLIANCE. Participants in the ALLIANCE obtain the right to use the logo that confirms not only regular rough diamond supplies from ALROSA, but also the reputation of a client as a reliable and trusted participant of the world diamond complex. Becoming an ALROSA ALLIANCE participant makes the company a candidate to potentially sign a long-term agreement.

Multiple forces seem to be conspiring against the diamond industry these days, and if mining stocks are any indication, the wider market takes a pessimistic view of its prospects. But as independent analyst Paul Zimnisky explains in his latest analysis, "Don’t Give Up on the Diamond Industry Just Yet", to take this attitude as a foregone conclusion is to underestimate the resilience of the industry as a whole and overlook not only the enduring intangible value of diamonds, but also the impact of what may well become their much more tangible rarity.

Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa has announced its production results for 2018 and Q4 2018, reporting that annual production declined by 7% to 36.7 million carats, while an 8% decline in carats sold was offset by a higher average price per carat, leading revenues to rise 6% to $4.5 billion. The miner attributed the fall in output to the shutdown of the Mir underground mine and the completion of open-pit mining at the Udachnaya pipe.

The De Beers Group has announced its production results for 2018 and Q4 2018, reporting that annual production increased by nearly 7% to 35.3 million carats, while a 4% decline in carats sold was offset by a higher average price per carat, leading revenues to rise 2% to $5.4 billion. They said the rise is production was due to a planned increase at the Orapa mine, although the group's output was in the lower half of the production guidance range of 35 to 36 million carats.

International Mining and Dredging Holdings (IMDH) will be holding its first tender since 2016 of Namibian marine-mined rough diamonds at Bonas-Couzyn’s Antwerp offices. Bonas said the first sale from IMDH will bring to market approximately 47,000cts of original marine goods of gem quality, mined by the specialist mining vessel, the Ya Toivo. “This exciting source will be holding regular ROM production tenders with Bonas-Couzyn in Antwerp throughout 2019,” the tender house said.

Diamond production in Angola remained flat in 2018 at 9.43 million carats, but revenue from diamond sales increased by 9% to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion due to a 27% rise in the average price per carat, the chairman of the state mining company Endiama, Ganga Júnior, announced this week. Diamond production fell slightly from 9.44 to 9.43 million carats, but the average price per carat of the 8.26 million carats sold increased to $149 per carat from $117 per carat.

Stornoway Diamonds got its production levels back on track in Q4 2018 after "challenging" year of ramping up their underground operations at the Renard mine in Canada, giving them the confidence to raise their production guidance for 2019. Production, sales and revenue all declined significantly from the miner's 2017 levels, but they recorded a 24% increase in the average price per carat earned despite a market downturn in the second half of 2018.

Canadian miner Mountain Province Diamonds reported a 17% jump in carat production for the full year 2018, with sales rising 30% to $US240 million. The company's 49% share of production from the Gahcho Kué mine it shares with De Beers totalled 3.4 million carats, (full GK production 6.9 million carats) compared to the 2.9 million carats (5.9m) recovered last year, following from a 25% rise in total tonnes mined (ore & waste) and a 15% rise in total tonnes treated.

Lucara Diamond Corp. has completed its highly anticipated inaugural diamond sale through Clara Diamond Solutions, its digital sales platform for selling rough diamonds individually, based on polished characteristics and demand.

Russian mining company AGD Diamonds has reported that from January to November of 2018, AGD Diamonds earned approximately $280 million (18.9 billion rubles) from diamond sales – up 35% year-on-year. According to Rough & Polished, the miner in 2018 the company extracted 22,150,000 cubic meters of rock mass from the Grib diamond mine, recovering 3,433,000 tons of ore. 

"For the first time since 2011, 2018 saw the Israeli diamond trade stabilize," writes The Israeli Diamond Industry, bringing to an end what the President of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE), Yoram Dvash calls “a few years of crisis." According to the Diamonds, Gemstones and Jewelry Administration in the Ministry of Economy, exports of polished diamonds fell by only 2.5% percent to approximately $4.5 billion, representing an improvement over sharper declines in recent years, while polished imports reached $3.0 billion, an improvement of 4.1% over last year.

Laurelton Diamonds, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiffany & Co. and supplier to the famous jeweler, will be holding tenders of rough as well as polished goods in Antwerp during the month of January. The tender of rough and sawn goods gets underway on Tuesday, January 8 at the Antwerp Diamond Tender Facility located in the Antwerp World Diamond Centre building, Belgium, and will continue until Thursday, January 17. The tender will include a selection of white and Cape Rough parcels in sizes from +5cts to -7 in regular and high quality assortments in Cts and Grs.

De Beers reversed a four-month trend of declining rough diamond sales at the final sight of 2018, as the miner sold $540 million of rough goods in its December cycle. The company attributed the increase in sales to the restarting of Indian manufacturing units after the Diwali holiday, when factories close for several weeks, and the spike in demand precipitated by the crucial holiday season and in anticipation of the need for replenished stocks in January.

The rough diamond trade in Antwerp during the month of November was marked by a resurgence of imports and exports of lower-priced rough after three sluggish months concerning the volumes of goods traded, while the polished trade experienced a general slowdown.

Mining company Lucapa Diamonds and its partners on the Lulo project in Angola have announced that their diamonds will feature in an historic inaugural international tender in the country. The tender is part of the new Angolan diamond marketing laws recently been approved by President Joao Lourenco and the Council of Ministers. According to Lucapa, the policy shifts in Angola allow management to plan for the sale of such high-value stones, something the company was not able to do before because previous rules forced producers to sell their gems to middlemen below international prices.

Russia's Alrosa, the world leader in diamond production, sold $267 million of rough goods in November 2018, which represents a 14% increase compared to its October revenue derived from a much higher volume of sales, but is not ready to claim demand for small rough has rebounded. Sales of smaller and less expensive rough goods have tumbled throughout the industry in recent months, as a lack of financing and a devalued currency have slowed purchases of goods destined for manufacturing in India. 

Russian diamond miner AGD Diamonds held its final rough diamond auction of the year on the e-trading platform of Grib Diamonds, its selling arm in Antwerp, earning over $25 million. The auction was attended by the company’s regular customers from India, Israel and Belgium, reports Rough & Polished. At the same time, AGD Diamonds was also able to attract new buyers from China due to perfect preparation of goods to be auctioned and smart organization of viewings.

Russian diamond miner AGD Diamonds, which in September acquired an 100% stake in Antwerp-based Grib Diamonds N. V., the international sales arm for rough goods produced at the Grib Diamond Field, held a public auction last week for the sale of special-size diamonds (10.8+), earning a total of $14.1 million. The lots included large-size top-grade diamonds, including a unique bright yellow colored stone weighing 57.03 carats, which had been extracted by the Grib Mining and Processing Unit on June 18, 2018.

Russian diamond giant Alrosa held two auctions of special rough stones (10.8 carats and up) during the month of November, first in Vladivostok and then in Dubai, earning an average of approximately $4,900 from the sale of 4,030 carats, yielding a total of $19.8 million. In Vladivostok, the miner sold 119 gem-quality rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,890 carats for $10.3 million, representing an average price per carat of $5,540. This was the fourth and final auction in Vladivostok, their  Far Eastern platform, for 2018. They started holding auctions there in late 2016.

Discussions between the Government of Botswana and De Beers Group are already underway as the long-standing partners look to strike a new deal. The current 10-year agreement for the sorting, valuing and sales of Debswana’s diamond production (Debswana is a 50/50 mining joint venture between Botswana and De Beers) is set to expire at the end of 2020. Botswana is reportedly pushing for a larger stake in its "new marriage" with De Beers ahead of the negotiations for the next sales agreement, writes The Southern Times.

Australian miner Lucapa Diamonds earned $4.2 million from its latest tender of rough goods from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola, as it continues to hold back high-value goods until it can take advantage of Angola's new marketing policy. The sale involved 3,411 carats and earned an average price of $1,220 per carat, and brings the miner's total sales of Lulo diamonds for the year to $24.5 million at an average price per carat which now stands at $1,353, a figure which has declined from an average price per carat of $1,642 as of the half-way point of 2018.

Riding the current wave of depressed rough diamond sales throughout the industry in recent months, De Beers' ninth sale of 2018 earned (provisionally) $440 million, the miner's lowest earnings in a sales cycle since October 2017. Soft demand from India has been the predominant factor in the decline of rough sales - particularly of smaller goods - across the industry.

Canadian miner Mountain Province Diamonds has sold US$17.7 million (CDN$23.3 million) from 245,751 carats at an average realized value of US$72 per carat at its ninth rough diamond which closed on November 14, 2018. The total proceeds from the sale were the lowest of the year thus far, but the average price per carat was the highest since the $85 per carat earned at the company's fifth sale of the year in June.