Grib Diamonds reported another excellent sale in Antwerp. The company sold about 550 carats with a revenue of approximately 45 million US dollars.

“Overall prices for Grib rose 5-7%, with particular strength seen in larger yellow diamonds and small goods below 3 gr. +2 carat gem white goods were notable for the decreases in the price of high single digits to low double digits”, according to Grib Diamonds.

Grib’s next auction is planned for mid-October.

In the presence of the representatives of several diamond producing, trading and manufacturing hubs, including Belgian Ambassador Jozef Smets, Angolan President Lourenço last week officially opened the Saurimo Diamond Development hub, aimed at reinforcing development and employment in Angola’s diamond-rich Lunda Sul province. The large Diamond Hub site already hosts three diamond manufacturing plants and will be completed with other diamond related services and training centers, as well as banks, restaurants, shops, convention centers and residential areas.

Lucara announced the recovery of a 62.7-carat fancy pink diamond from the Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana. The diamond entitled “Boitumelo” meaning Joy, is a high-quality, fancy pink, Type IIa gem. In addition, a 2.21-carat fancy pink diamond of similar quality was recovered during the same production period, along with two pink gems of similar color and purity weighing 11.17 and 5.05 carats respectively. The 62.7-carat diamond represents the largest fancy pink gem recovered in Botswana and one of the largest rough pink diamonds on record.

Lucapa diamond company announced a strong first half of 2021 in its Q2 results. Both Lulo (Angola) and Mothae (Lesotho) processed record Q2 volumes and record half-year revenues. 

Lulo continued exceptional large stone recoveries, including three +100 carat founds, and its single largest sale ever of A$28.3 million, representing an average price of US$34,548/carat, led to record revenues for the first half-year of 2021. Mothae also noted exceptional large stone recoveries and regular sales also led to record revenues for the first half of 2021.

In May and June, ALROSA held auctions in Antwerp, Dubai and Ramat Gan, selling over 400 lots weighing almost 6,600 carats. The total revenue equaled US$32.4 million.

Under Russian law, ALROSA sells special-size diamonds at international auctions only. These auctions allowed clients to purchase goods they need despite international travel restrictions.

ALROSA has launched the new phase of its digital and operational transformation intended to improve the efficiency of its production assets. The project sets out to combine the management teams of the Mirny and Nyurba Divisions. This move would enable the Company to manage its assets more efficiently and free up part of the management team by combining the engineering and supporting functions. The core production personnel will remain unaffected.

Lucapa, Endiama and Sodiam announced the sale of seven exceptional stones, weighing 620 carats, for a total sales price of $21,4 million, representing an average price of $34,548/carat. The large, top-quality and fancy colored diamonds, recovered at Lulo this year, were sold via tender organized by Sodiam in Luanda.

On Monday 21 June, Grib Diamonds sold over $40 million rough diamonds of Russian origin through its online, ascending clock auction software in Antwerp.

According to Grib Diamonds, all lots of 520k carats were sold and prices hit record levels in every category. Especially the smaller goods marked strong price increases.

Grib’s next sale of Russian and Angolan goods is scheduled to start on 12 July.

Earlier this year Petra Diamonds announced the recovery of a 39.34 carat Type IIb blue diamond from the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The diamond, known for its exceptional quality in terms of both its color and clarity, is currently in Antwerp for viewing, is expected to yield upwards of US$1 million per carat. Next week it will continue on its world tour till early July. Bidding will close on Monday, July 12.

May sales of Russian miner ALROSA net 365 million USD, including proceeds from rough diamond sales of $346 million and polished diamond sales of $19 million, resulting in a total of $1,926 million diamond sales during the first five months of 2021. 

Lucara Diamonds announced the recovery of a 470 carat top light brown clivage diamond from its Karowe Mine in Botswana. This recovery headlines a series of top-quality gem and clivage quality diamond recoveries during a recent production run, including 5 other diamonds of 265ct, 183ct, 161ct, 116ct and 106ct, and 13 diamonds between 50 and 100 carats.

Grib Diamonds’ Ascending Clock Spot Auction of Friday 4 June in Antwerp was very successful. They sold 38,000 carats of Angolan Run of Mine goods for $27 million, achieving high prices across all categories of diamonds. 134 diamond companies worldwide bid in the auction on over 100 Lots. Grib Diamonds received nearly 1,800 bids.

The next viewing for Grib Diamonds starts on Wednesday 9 June. 520,000 carats of Russian production for the Grib Diamond Mine are being auctioned, with the auction itself on 18 June.

In April this year, Petra Diamonds announced the recovery of a 39.34 ct. Type IIb blue diamond of exceptional quality in terms of both color and clarity at the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The stone will be sold via a special tender with viewings starting in Antwerp from 14 – 18 June 2021, followed by Dubai from 22 – 23 June, Hong Kong from 29 – 30 June and New York from 7 – 9 July 2021.

The Angolan state National Diamond Trading Company SODIAM announced its 3^rd rough diamond tender in Luanda, Angola in June 2021. The sale will include a selection of exceptional Single Stones from the Catoca, Luele, Lulo and Uari mine, as well as an assorted run-of-mine cut across all sizes of (the highly expected) Luele Kimberlite production. The total value of tendered goods is an estimated 27 – 30 million USD.

Viewings will take place from 9 to 23 June 2021 at the SODIAM viewings facility in Luanda. Bid submission ends on 24 June 2021, 11:00 Luanda time.

Rio Tinto unveiled a preview of its final showcase of rare Argyle pink, red and blue diamonds from its iconic mine. As mining ceased at Argyle on 3 November 2020, the 2021 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender showcases the final collection from the last year of Argyle operations, with viewings set to take place in Perth, Sydney, Singapore and Antwerp over the course of the next three months. 

Russian miner ALROSA records a strong performance with total sales in April amounting to US$401 million, which includes proceeds from rough diamond sales of US$383 million, and polished diamond sales of US$18 million. For the first four months of 2021, total rough and polished diamond sales accounted for US$1,561 million, of which US$1,509 million for rough diamond sales and US$51 million for polished.

First Element Diamond Services announced its cooperation with the Del Gatto Diamond Finance Fund (DDFF), offering their clients pre tender financing for their diamond production. This includes not only the full run of mine production but also any special stones that may be recovered.

Thanks to this cooperation, diamond producers and buyers will be able to receive funds before tender sales, which marks a first.

In April, ALROSA, the Russian diamond mining giant, completed an online auction for special-sized rough where nearly 95% of the lots sold. The auction, which took place without physical viewings, used digital twin technology so clients could analyze goods remotely and trace polished diamonds back to their mine.

The miner sold 142 lots, weighing approximately 2,040 carats, for US$8.8 million. The auction had 238 registered clients, of which 27 placed winning bids and were from Belgium, Israel, India, UAE, Russia, and the USA.

During its latest ascending clock Specials Auction on the 10th May in Antwerp, Grib Diamonds sold approximately 6 thousand carats of Run of Mine +10.8 carat stones.

According to Grib, three stones of a combined weight of over 400 carats sold for a total of nearly $8 million, making one of the three (186 carats) the most expensive stone ever sold from Grib Diamonds ($3.7M).

Total revenues of the auction exceeded $26 million.

Lucapa announced the sale of a parcel of Lulo rough, totaling 4.000cts for US$5m or US$1,239/ct. Seven high-value stones, including two pinks will be part of a later sale. In total this year to date, Lulo’s rough sales amount to US$14.5m or an average of US$1,557/ct for a 9,312 carats of rough.

Lucara Diamond Corp. released its Q1 2021 figures, demonstrating a strong performance in the first three months of the year. The total revenue, including diamonds sold through regular tenders, the Clara platform and the HB Antwerp agreement, equaled $53.1 million or $579 per carat sold from the sale of 91,760 carats, marking a 56% increase compared to the first quarter of 2020. 

Russian miner ALROSA held auctions for special-sized rough diamonds, those exceeding 10.8 carats, at its main trading offices in April to meet their clients’ demands. In total the miner sold 608 diamonds with a total weight exceeding 9,120 carats. Overall revenue amounted to US$42.3million, Of which US$10.3 million In Antwerp.

They were able to host viewings in Antwerp, Dubai, Moscow, and Ramat Gan, with buyers coming from those hubs as well as India and China.

In their latest auction in Antwerp, Grib Diamonds sold over 580,000ct of rough diamonds for approximately US$40m. According to Grib demand continued to be strong for larger better quality rough, especially for 5-10ct, 2-4ct, 4-6GR, and even goods down to +11 showed robust prices. Results for smaller goods were weaker and saw decreases except for the -7+5.

Overall their production prices saw a low single-digit increase.

The next regular sale will be of new Angolan production containing rough from +10.8CT down to -7+5 with viewing starting in Antwerp from the 21st May.

During the height of the pandemic, diamond producers faced stockpile build-ups when the world came to a standstill, stoking fears that gems amassed by miners could hurt the sector for years to come. In the ensuing months' excessive demand from manufacturers, traders, and jewelers have all but wiped out the stash. All this as demand for luxury sales, including diamond jewelry, jumped as consumers were unable to travel. Remarkably producers such as De Beers and Alrosa have since raised their prices for rough.

Russian miner Alrosa records a strong performance, with total sales of rough and polished diamonds in March amounting to US$357 million, including proceeds from rough diamond sales of US$345 million and polished diamond sales of US$12 million. 

Russian miner Alrosa records a strong performance, with total sales of rough and polished diamonds amounting to over US$800m in January and February 2021. Rough sales totaled US$782m, compared to US$732.5m in 2020, while polished sales rose from US$18.9m in 2020 to US$21m this year (2021). “The recovery in demand for diamond jewelry in key markets well continued in early 2021 thus providing a good support for rough diamonds sales. We believe the current supply and demand balance is comfortable for both miners and buyers of rough diamonds,” said Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of ALROSA.

To enhance the use of data and ensure customers create value from the rough they buy, De Beers wants to introduce a tracking program for the diamonds it supplies to sightholders. In its new supply contract the company will ask manufacturers to share the outcome of the polished yield, reports Rapaport News. This would allow the miner to verify that the rough sold to manufacturers had been polished by them, rather than sold to a third party. Additionally, it would enable source verification and market intelligence.

Rapaport reports that prices at De Beers' latest sight were up significantly, 2-4% in the 1 to 2 carat sizes and even a steep 10% in the 5-10ct stones, the third consecutive price hike the miner implemented at its sights. While official results of this cycle have not yet been announced, insiders say sales have been thriving as much as they did at the December in January sights, when rough purchases were spurred by low inventory levels following the 2020 holiday season and continued demand in view of the Chinese New Year and Valentines Day.

In a release detailing its operational results for the COVID year 2020 and the last quarter of that year, Lucara clearly demonstrates its strengths, recording a strong performance despite the pandemic. Total revenue (regular tenders, Clara plus the HB  and Louis Vuitton agreement) amounted to US$125.3m, compared to US$192.5m y-o-y, a remarkably strong performance considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong Q4, with revenue of US$42.4m at an avg US$402/ct marked a global recovery on the rough market, a trend which is continuing in 2021.

The Namibian reports that Namdia's CEO and former Diamond Commissioner, Kennedy Hamutenya is facing a disciplinary hearing after investigations into irregularities at Namdia, which is mandated to sell a portion of Namibia mined diamonds (roughly US$150m) as agreed in the 10-year agreement between De Beers and the Namibian Government. According to one Board member, the investigation into the irregularities let to recommendations, one of which is "charging the CEO for a string of violations".