Archive

  • [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.

  • On Tuesday, President Masisi of Botswana, the First Lady,  and a large delegation including the country's Minister of Minerals and Energy Moagi and Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation Kwape visited the Antwerp diamond community.

  • The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the industry organization representing Antwerp’s 1600 diamond companies and service providers, has appointed David Gotlib as its new President, replacing outgoing President Chaim Pluczenik. The Board also appointed Sahag Arslanian and Amish Jain as Vice Presidents.

  • Australia-based Newfield Resources, concluded its maiden sale of 5333ct rough produced in the miner’s Sierra Leone Tongo mine, via Antwerp tender specialist Bonas Group successfully, with total revenues amounting to US$1.44m. Strong demand pushed prices for the 15 trial sale lots to an average of US$269/ct, well over Newfields estimation of US$222/ct. Newfield will conduct more sales this year as the company starts production at two of the five identified kimberlites on the Tongo mining leases.

  • First Element reports extremely strong results from their Antwerp sale of Jagersfontein Developments and Rooipoort Developments production which closed on Monday (23rd May) at the Antwerp Tender Facility. 100% of the parcels on offer were sold with increases in prices seen across all categories, especially in the smaller goods. There were 112 companies who placed bids with 62 of them being successful. “It appears that the diamond market has recovered exceptionally well after the uncertainty seen in recent weeks.

  • Australian diamond exploration and development company Newfield announced they signed an exclusive diamond sales and marketing agreement with the Bonas Group. Newfield’s flagship asset is the Tongo Mine Development in eastern Sierra Leone. 

    Through this partnership, Newfield will be able to fully authenticate the source of the Tongo diamonds sold, via the Sarine Technologies traceability program used by Bonas. Buyers and retailers of those goods will therefore have full traceability of the diamonds’ origin.

  • Namdia, the state-owned diamond authorized to sell 15% of rough production from the Namibian government and De Beers joint venture Namdeb, has released its updated client list, including nine Antwerp-based diamond companies last Friday. Namdia now has 36 core clients for the next three-year cycle, up from 16 in the previous years (2019-2021). Earlier this year, in February, Namibian President Hage Geingob visited the Antwerp diamond community, to discuss business opportunities.

  • Antwerp Jeweler Beldiamond teamed up with digital transparency company Everledger to offer diamonds backed by blockchain. Thanks to this technology, the journey of a diamond can be entirely traced and recorded, creating its own unique digital identity. According to Beldiamond, blockchain technology paves the way for diamond sourcing to become even more transparent and responsible.

  • It’s the number one question on the minds of every diamond trader in the last 3 months. Is today’s strong market the result of pent-up demand, and a spectacular jewelry rush in December where the end of the pandemic atmosphere and extra pocket money drove customers to indulge in diamond jewelry? Or is it a full-blown recovery where the market finds a new balance between supply and demand? At least for Antwerp, the results of 2021 and the first results of 2022 hint to where the diamond market is going. We asked a few questions to our new Head of Media Relations: Tom Neys.

  • Mountain Province announced the results of their first diamond sale of the year in Antwerp. The company sold 181,851 carats of diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué mine for total proceeds of US$25 million. This results in an average value of US$137 per carat for the Antwerp tender, which is 84% higher than the average price per carat of all diamonds sold in 2020.

  • Closing its latest sale in Antwerp yesterday, Grib Diamonds reported selling 560,000 carats of complete mine production from the Grib Diamond Mine, for a total of US$73m.  The average price was US$130/ct, up a whopping 35% compared to the recent sales results of the same production by Stargems in Dubai, which achieved US$94/ct just two weeks ago.

    Grib stated to be pleased with the support of over 300 customers present in the auction, with a record demand of 174 companies placing competitive bids. There were 47 winners and a total of 4,870 bids added.

  • GRIB Diamonds, the Antwerp-based rough diamond selling arm of AGD Diamonds, has kicked off 2022 with its first Spot viewing for Regular Goods in Antwerp today, with the spot auction slated for January 24th. Interested parties can apply via GRIB's website to schedule an appointment.