Archive

  • Storm Mountain Diamonds announced yesterday the recovery of a rare fancy intense pink diamond weighing 108.39ct at its Kao mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The stone was discovered earlier this year on March 23rd, 2023.The exceptionally rare Type IIa gemstone is one of the largest pink diamonds in history to have been recovered.

  • Petra announces the results of Tender 4 of FY 2023, at which 505,398 carats were sold for a total of US$72.1 million from Petra’s South African operations.

    This cycle includes a US$7 million Exceptional Stone2 from the Cullinan Mine and US$4.3 million of Finsch diamonds sold during H1 FY 2023, both of which were reported in our Interim Results announcement during February 2023. No sales for Williamson were recorded in this cycle given the operations at the mine are still suspended.

  • [A DIAMOND LOUPE EXCLUSIVE STORY] - It was only just last September that Canadian mining company Arctic Canadian (AC) announced the recovery of a yellow diamond weighing an impressive 71.26 carats. The rough octahedron gem is currently the largest known fancy vivid yellow diamond ever discovered in Canada.

  • According to a statement released by the country’s financy minister in Gabarone, Botswana expects economic growth of 4% during 2023 while targeting medium-term growth of 5.7%. The government plans to use this windafall in proceeds to beef up infrastructural investments around the country.

  • Rough diamond sales by Debswana Diamond Company reached record levels in 2022 jumping up by 22% from the previous year. The jump in sales has resulted from the West’s shunning of Russian stones whereby Botswana profited from steady global demand for diamond jewellery.

  • Botswana Diamonds (BOD), the UK-based explorer, says it is seeking joint venture opportunities to seek out new assets in Zimbabwe and South Africa in the new year.
    Speaking of Zimbabwe, John Teeling, chairman of BOD, said in a trading update: “There are significant geological opportunities in the country. The objective is to find a formula, which suits all parties.”

  • Jewelry trade publications such as JCK are reporting ever more instances of lab-grown diamonds bearing fraudulent inscriptions linked to grading reports for natural gems. “Given that the resale value of lab-grown diamonds is next to nothing,” said Soraya Cayen, owner of the Carmel, CA. jewelry salon, Cayen Collection, “retailers and consumers alike are understandably seeking confirmation that their diamond is a naturally mined one.”

  • Mining company Lucapa reported a record full-year 2021 total revenue of US$98 million or an average of US$1,564/carat. The miner also announced record operational performances from both Lulo (SML), the company’s 40% held alluvial diamond mining operation in Angola, and Mothae in Lesotho, the latter sold via Antwerp. Both operations processed record volumes, recovered and sold record carats, and made some exceptional diamond recoveries. In addition, Lulo’s exploration sampling includes the discovery of 13 diamonds from the Canguige catchment area, including eight Type IIa diamonds.

  • According to Richard Duffy, CEO of mining company Petra Diamonds, the long-predicted supply squeeze is being reflected over all diamond categories. This would mark a structural change in the diamond market, with increasing prices creating a robust and supportive market.

    Duffy points out the current strong demand pull into an inventory pipeline where inventories are largely depleted. With a very low ability of suppliers to provide inventory, this will result in higher demand than supply and thus increase prices over the entire value chain.

  • De Beers, part of Anglo American, says industry recovery from the COVID impact is reflected on the company’s 2021 results. Total revenue of the company increased significantly with 66% to $5.6 billion in 2021, with rough diamond sales rising to $4.9 billion compared to $2.8 billion in 2020. Rough diamond sales were driven by positive sentiment and strong demand for diamond jewelry in key consumer markets like the US and Mainland China. Both diamond jewelry markets posted positive growth, not only compared to 2020 but also to the pre-pandemic year 2019.

  • Russian miner ALROSA announced its preliminary rough and polished sales results for January totaled $325 million. Rough diamond sales equaled $315 million and polished sales $10 million.

  • Petra Diamonds’ H1 FY 2022 figures (July – December 2021) show the revenue of the diamond mining company went up 49% to $264.7 million compared to the same period last year. This strong result was particularly driven by the sale of Exceptional Stones totaling $77.9 million, but also supported by the strong diamond market with rough prices going up.

    Exceptional Stones sales results: