Australian miner Lucapa and the Govt of the Kingdom of Lesotho have announced the third sale of 2021 of Mothae rough achieved US$1.5m or US$420/ct. All of Mothae’s diamonds are brough to Antwerp where they are prepared for sale and sold in Antwerp. The parcels that form part of Lucapa’s and the Govt of Lesotho’s partnership deal with Safdico are then studied and cut and polished in the city by a preeminent cutting facility.

Lucara Diamond Corp, owner of the Karowe mine in Botswana and HB Antwerp, the diamond trading and manufacturing company based in Antwerp have agreed to extend the exclusive deal on all of Lucara's +10.8ct diamonds, which account for approx. 70% of Lucara's total revenue, for 24 months. HB Antwerp will continue to get exclusive access to purchase the miner's specials until the end of 2022, for a price determined on the projected polished outcome, and an additional true up, minus handling fee and manufacturing cost, once the diamond is actually sold.

Petra Diamonds has recovered a 39.34 carat Type IIb blue diamond of exceptional quality in terms of both its colour and clarity at the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The Company anticipates that the diamond will be sold via a special tender.

First Element Bv today  announced that they have sold the 162.66Ct exceptional stone on their tender last week held in Antwerp, Belgium. The stone was viewed by over 100 companies during the tender period and received extremely strong interest from the Antwerp market, First Element said, which reflected in the highly competitive bidding for the stone. The stone sold for a total price of well over $3 Million

Lucapa announced the recovery of an additional three +100ct and two +50ct diamonds, now totalling six rough diamonds over 100ct discovered in the last three months alone at Mining Block 46 or one +100ct for every 20k cubic meters of gravel. These statistics and recoveries support the potential of the adjacent Canguige catchment and kimberlites close to the Lulo alluvial mine. 

Alrosa today announced that the combined results of its recent specials auctions in honor of the miners’ 100th auction, totaling US$23.9m. Of that number, US$10.7m came from the sales in Antwerp, US$5.5 from its digital auctions and US$7.7m was achieved from the sale of three large stones (242.31ct, 190.74ct and 136.21ct) at the 100th “Jubilee Auction”.

Lucapa announced a parcel of selected Mothae stones including a 213ct white diamond and 11ct pink, was prepared, analyzed and sold successfully in Antwerp for US$1,050/ct or a total of US$5.9m to the miner’s purchasing partner. The sale was conducted under the partnership agreement with the Kingdom of Lesotho, maximizing revenue for the country through a share in the final sales outcome of the (selected) stones from the parcel, once they are polished in Antwerp. 

Lucapa announces its Mothae expansion project, the re-commissioning of the upgraded processing plant, was completed successfully, expanding processing capacity at the Lesotho kimberlite mine by 45%, to 1.6 million tonnes per annum starting Q2 2021. Lucapa's Mothae production is sold via tender in Antwerp, alongside partnerships with manufacturing companies in accordance with the marketing agreement the company made with the Government of Lesotho, to maximize on the added value generated by the cutting and polishing and final sales of its precious resources.

Grib Diamonds sold over 620K carats of Grib and Angolan production on Thursday 18th March in Antwerp Belgium via its online Ascending Clock Auction. Total revenues were over $50M.

Prices in Specials and +4Gr goods showed continued strength, whilst goods were predictably weaker in the smaller and cheaper areas, Grib commented. The next sale for Grib will start on April 14th

Antwerp figures, released by the AWDC, indicate the trade in rough diamonds continues to boost recovery from the pandemic year, as rough trade even surpassed the February figures of 2020. January and February 2020 were the last months before the global outbreak of the COVID crisis, now exactly one year ago, when strong performances were recorded across the board and the industry seemed to finally rise from the dip of 2019.

Petra Diamonds has successfully sold the 299ct Type IIa white rough diamond, recovered from the Cullinan mine in January this year, at its recent Antwerp tender, for US$40,701 per carat or US$12.18 million to Stargems. 

Alrosa, the Russian diamond mining giant reports that despite a strong Q4 2020, with especially strong sales volumes of smaller diamonds, total revenue for the year fell 7% to US$3bn, output fell 22% to 30m cts and net profit dropped 49% to US$440m, a direct impact from lower sales, as the miner upheld maximum flexibility throughout the pandemic, to avoid stockpiling, as well as a weaker rouble.

_{Reprinted courtesy of Paul Zimnisky.} Despite relatively stable consumer demand for diamonds in established markets like the U.S. and notable growth from newer markets like China, for the most of last decade the diamond industry has felt apathetic. This can in part be explained by an arguably oversupplied supply-chain, insufficient marketing efforts and a general pessimism towards the diamond business as a changing consumer economy challenges traditional industries.

Alrosa's January sales of rough (US$421m) and polished (US$9m) continue on the trend of Q4 2020 with record sales in December. The January figures were up 6% y-o-y, driven by strong demand in China and the US and lower inventory levels in the midstream. The Russian miner increased prices 6-7% in its latest cycle, but continues to allow buyers to defer purchases. 

In conclusion of a months-long saga, Dominion Diamonds Mines has finalized the sale of the Ekati Diamond mine and associated assets to Arctic Canadian Diamond Company LTD, a new company formed and owned by DDJ Capital Management, Brigade Capital Management, LP and Western Asset Management Company, LLC, CBC Canada reports.  Operations were fully resumed in January, after a restart in November last year, and all workers are expected to return to work later this month.

In its latest trade update, Gem Diamonds, the mining company that operates the high value diamond Letšeng mine in Lesotho, presented a remarkably good report considering the impact of the pandemic on the global diamond industry.

Industry analyst Paul Zimnisky’s recent release of a full year of the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Price Index (more info on the index here) confirms earlier reports from recent sight and contract sales as well as tenders held in Antwerp in recent weeks such as Petra Diamonds, Mountain Province and Grib Diamonds, th

At it latest Antwerp tender at Bonas Group, Mountain Province reports prices for its Gahcho Kué goods went up 8% compared to the record high volume December sale, selling 241,827ct for a total of US$21.8 million or US$90 per carat. CEO Stuart Brown expressed to be positive about the future, looking forward to the February sale, which will feature the 157 Polaris, named after the North Star because of its star-like, glowing blue appearance when exposed to UV light. 

Lucapa reports strong Q4 results at its Lulo operations in Angola (volume of carats mined was up 55%, grades were up 47%, amount of carats sold was down 48% (4,269ct) but prices were up 31% y-o-y.

In its first trading session of the new year, Alrosa is maintaining its flexible trading conditions for long-term clients, to support stability and long-term health of the industry. The flexibility allows clients to defer allocations and purchase diamonds aligned with real needs, viewings are remote through video-viewer or, under strict procedures, in Moscow.

Alrosa, the Russian mining giant, ended 2020 on a high note with total sales figures of US$521.6m, which, according to Rapaport, were the highest since March 2018, marking what deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev said was strong demand from the market.

In a press release, SODIAM, the state controlled diamond marketing arm of Angola has announced that together with special advisor and former Dubai frontman Peter Meeus, they will continue talks with five tender houses (Bonas, First Element, I-Hennig & C°, Koin International and Trans Atlantic Gem Sales) who responded to a request for proposal and expressed interest to set up operations in the Angolan Diamond Bourse (ADB), to be established in Luanda.

In its last auction of the year, Antwerp-based GRIB sold 100% of 450Kct, of Arkhangelsk, Russian and Angolan goods for a total of US$35m. GRIB commented "prices were exceedingly strong with 2CT goods showing increases in the high single digits and smaller goods increasing in the low single digits. Overall prices increased around 5%."

Today AWDC President Chaim Pluczenik and AWDC CEO, Ari Epstein, honored retiring ALROSA BELGIUM Managing Director, Sergey Panchekhin, who worked for the Russian miner for more than 20 years, and welcomed his successor, Akil Zubir to the Antwerp diamond community. Apart from leading the Belgian branch of ALROSA, Mr. Panchekhin, who started his career in diplomacy, took up several mandates, including setting up and managing ALROSA offices and operations in Angola.

Lucapa Diamond Company announced the result of a partnership deal with Safdico, cutting and polishing the 46ct pink rough diamond recovered by the Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML). The exceptional rough stone was studied and polished in Antwerp and cut into a 15.2ct, Fancy Intense Orangy Pink heart-shaped diamond, alongside two pear-shaped diamonds of 3.3ct and 2.3ct diamonds.

In the auction concluded on November 24, GRIB Diamonds, the Belgium based diamond trader, owned by AGD Diamonds, netted US$23 million for a total of 8,700ct of rough diamonds, significantly exceeding expected revenue, especially for white goods, including three type IIa stones of 199.43ct, 86.29ct and 50.32ct respectively, each sold for US$1m+.

A Canadian court has granted Rio Tinto's Diavik subsidiary the permission to sell the rough stones from the troubled Dominion Diamond Mines, partner in the Diavik mine, which Rio Tinto was holding to recoup US$90+m in debts, unpaid cash calls to operate the mine.

In Luanda, the state-owned diamond company Sodiam has opened a retail store, in collaboration with KGK, the diamond company that also operates a polishing factory in the country. Earlier, Mines minister Diamantino Azevedo announced the government is going ahead with plans to develop a diamond hub in a free-trade zone, which is said to include a research and training facility as well as a diamond bourse.

AWDC’s figures for October indicate that increased trade, particularly rough imports and exports in the diamond hub, continue to narrow the gap, caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global diamond industry, with 2019. Rough exports for October were up 82% in terms of carats, 76% in terms of value, compared to October 2019. Imports increased 78% in carats, 65% in US$.

As restrictions to combat a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic tighten in countries across the globe, Antwerp continues to be operational, a communication from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) which was sent to the local trade community states. Last Sunday, Belgium's Federal government, following other countries across the globe, announced new measures to flatten the curve, but business operations in Antwerp's famous diamond square mile can continue, including at the Diamond Office, where all diamond imports and exports pass through.

In a press release Alrosa, the Russian diamond miner, announced the results of its latest specials tender, held in Antwerp in October. At the tender, where 28 companies participated in bidding, the miner sold 112 rough diamonds, 10.8ct plus or specials, for a total volume of 1,733ct at a total price of US$6.9m. Alrosa choose Antwerp for its sales as the company "tries to meet the needs of customers by offering rough diamonds in the countries where they operate", Evgeny Agureev, Deputy CEO of Alrosa commented.

According to Mining Weekly, citing Botswana Central Bank data, exports of rough diamonds in Q3 nosedived to -66%. Debswana, the 50/50 joint venture between miner De Beers and the Government of Botswana, representing the bulk of the country's diamond exports, reported exporting a mere US$287m worth of rough in Q3 2020, compared to US$863m in Q3 2019.

Gem Diamonds reports that its Q3 Antwerp tender results achieved an average of US$2,215 per carat, exceeding (pre-covid) H2 2019 prices. The strong results, excluding a little under US$30m of proceeds of the September tender that arrived after the Q3 period ended, and continued cost control are further boosting the miner's balance sheets, to positive cash flow. The latest tender in September included the sale of the 439 carat Letšeng Icon. The miner reopened the mine in Q2 and has fully resumed all activitities at the Lesotho Letšeng operation, including waste mining activities in July.

Petra Diamonds in its trading update for Q1 FY 2021 (July through to September) reports a 10% decrease in production to 974,346ct, which the miner attributes largely to the continued care and maintenance status of the Wiliamson mine in Tanzania. The miner also reports a 33% increase in revenue, to US$82m, as Petra released inventory from Q4 2020 and rough prices at the latest tenders (September and October) firmed up significantly, although still 10% below pre-covid tender results, the company statement adds.

Rapaport reports that Rio Tinto's Diavik subsidiary Diavik Diamond Mines Inc (DDMI) has asked a Canadian court to allow a sale of Dominion owned rough diamonds from the mine, to compensate for outstanding payments to Rio Tinto, amounting to US$90+ million, to be able to continue operations at the mine. Previously, the court had already granted DDMI the right to hold some of the rough as collateral while Dominion is under protection from creditors.

In a press release, Russian miner Alrosa has announced it will extend its long-term customer 2018-2020 contracts through to Q1 2021. Normally, the miner would be evaluating its long-term contracts as well as prospective members of its Alrosa Alliance. Due to the pandemic disrupting normal trade and the continued uncertainty, Alrosa has decided to maintain flexibility towards clients and postpone the planned review of clients and the decisions on new three-year contracts for five months.

In a latest update, Australia based miner Lucapa has adjusted its indicated and inferred diamond resource estimates at the Mothae operation to an estimated 280k ct, 3.1cpht at an average value of US$635/ct and 960k ct, 2.44cpht at an average value of US$601/ct respectively. In the release, Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall commented on the 280% increase in indicated resource; " The increase in tonnes and carats, ..., strongly supports an expansion in production at Mothae that the partners are considering"

Junior miner BlueRock operating the Kareevlei mine in Kimberley, South Africa, reports stronger than expected production and higher grades in Q3, or 5,577 ct compared to 3,973ct in Q3 2019, at an average price of US$330 per carat. In May, BlueRock announced it will be collaborating with Antwerp-based tender specialist Bonas Group for the sale of its rough diamonds.

De Beers reports selling US$467m worth or rough diamonds at its latest sales cycle, 57% more than the same sales period in 2019, 40% higher than the previous sale, further confirming rough demand has picked up significantly in view of the holiday season. The miner, who discounted prices by 5 to 10% according to industry insiders, went through several months of near zero sales, at the peak of the pandemic's first wave, and implemented maximum flexiblity to its long-term customers. In the latest cycle, it also extended the usual one-week sales momentum to more than 3 weeks.