Pop sensation Britney Spears says she’s launching her own jewelry brand, to be called B Tiny.
She has already made a fortune from sales of Britney perfumes, first launched in 2004 and said to have generated total revenue of over $1.5bn.
The 42-year-old “Princess of Pop” announced on Instagram that she was “so excited” to launch her first jewelry line, of what she said were “delicate extremely different and one of a kind pieces”.
Her post, which has over 70,000 likes, includes pictures of rings connected by a gold chain to bands around her wrist.
The post gives no further details of the collection, price or launch date.
De Beers says it has identified eight new high-potential kimberlite sites in Angola, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
It resumed explorations in the country in 2022, after a 10-year gap, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February with Angola’s National Mineral Resource Agency, and its state-owned mining and trading companies, Endiama and Sodiam.
Aerial surveys by De Beers have so far identified eight sites in Lunda Sul, the northeastern province that is home to the huge Catoca mine. De Beers is now exploring six more areas, together with Endiama.
Angola has yet to explore 60 per cent of its diamond-rich territories. It opened its new Luele diamond mine last November, in a move that is forecast to increase annual production from 9.7m carats in 2023 to 14.6m carats this year.
Under the terms of the MoU there will be a review of kimberlite deposits to be explored and the transparency and traceability of diamond production will be promoted.
Mountain Province reported increased net losses for the latest quarter as prices keep on dropping in a “challenging market”.
The Canadian miner today (7 November) announced a net loss of $13.6m for the three months to 30 September, following on from a $4.7m loss in Q2 (all figures are in US dollars).
“In Q3 2024 our sales achieved 100 per cent sell-through with no unsold stock held at the end of September and a higher average selling price than the three preceding quarters,” said Reid Mackie, VP sales and marketing at Mountain Province.
The average price per carat was, however, down 21 per cent on a year ago – from $95 to $75.
The company sold a 679,599 carats were sold for $50.8m, compared to 478,653 carats in Q3 2023 for $45.3m. Year-on-year the number of carats sold was up almost 30 per cent, but revenue increased by just 12 per cent.
Adjusted EBITDA was $12.5m and loss from mine operations was $8m.
As for operations at the Gahcho Kue mine (pictured), the number of tonnes of ore treated increased 10 per cent year-on-year, but the number of carats recovered fell by 10 per cent.
CEO Mark Wall explained that this was “driven by planned lower grade in Q3 and unplanned lower grade in March and early Q2 of 2024”.
He said that while the diamond market had been disappointing, he was optimistic that the price environment would recover during 2025 and that it would be followed by a very strong production year in 2026.
Russia’s Finance Ministry is considering new purchases of rough diamonds from Alrosa for the State Precious Metals and Gemstones Repository (Gokhran) in 2025, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters on the sidelines of the Moscow Financial Forum.
“We are considering this possibility,” Moiseyev said in response to possibly resuming purchases. “In order to allow Alrosa the opportunity to be calm and not feel obliged to sell on the market in order to maintain its liquidity position. Because the market looks alarming.”
The government could use budgetary allocations for precious metals and stones to purchase rough diamonds. The purchase limit is planned at 51.5 billion rubles for next year, Moiseyev said.
It became known in March that Alrosa and the Finance Ministry had concluded an agreement to buy out part of the raw materials produced in 2024 and completed a transaction for the first consignment of rough diamonds. There have been no reports since then regarding Alrosa purchasing diamonds from Gokhran.
“There are no plans for this year, though we are considering the possibility for next year,” Moiseyev said. “In general, this is all confidential, so we may not announce it.”
The near-empty Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) is hoping the arrival of around 40 lab grown traders will signal a change in its fortunes.
The vast new center, recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest office building in existence, was officially opened last December by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi .
It has a capacity of 4,500 offices, but remains virtually empty.
The bourse has, according to local media reports, now reached an agreement with the Lab Grown Diamond Association (LGDA) to relocate around 40 lab grown companies from elsewhere in Surat.
Mahesh Gadhvi, CEO at SDB, said recently that 250 offices were currently occupied (that’s less than 6 per cent of the total).
“Steadily we are progressing towards opening more offices and starting more businesses from SDB,” he told the business news channel CNBC.
The global supply of natural diamonds has already peaked, according to Moses Madondo, CEO of De Beers Group Managed Operations. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, a major mining and resources conference in South Africa, he explained that production is on the decline, with several mine closures on the horizon and no significant new discoveries in sight.
Madondo highlighted that this limited supply could push diamond prices higher. “Since the turn of the century, we’ve only seen one major commercial discovery, the Luele mine in Angola, where we aim to start production by the 2030s. But on a broader scale, global diamond production is set to decline,” he said. This trend, while concerning from a supply perspective, offers the potential for price growth.
In the short term, Madondo expects production to dip, but he anticipates a recovery after 2025, driven by the Luele mine ramping up and South Africa’s Venetia mine shifting to underground operations. However, the looming closure of Canada’s Diavik mine in 2026 and the shutdown of several mines in Russia will further tighten supply.
The luxury Swiss watchmaker will sell direct to consumers at the HKRI Taikoo Hui mall, in Shanghai, according to Chinese media reports.
The store will be operated by Bucherer, the long-established watch retailer that was wholly acquired by Rolex last September, and will carry Bucherer branding. No date has been given for its opening
China is the second biggest market for Swiss watches after the US, accounting for $209m of exports in August.
But it is currently intensifying efforts to curb conspicuous extravagance, particularly through a crackdown on social media influencers who flaunt excessive wealth.
In addition overall sales of Swiss watches are suffering, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, which describes the outlook for the rest of the year as negative.
Rolex dominates the Swiss watch market, with a share of more than 30 per cent. It has always relied on authorized dealers to manage its Chinese operations.
Canadian miner Lucara has sold Clara, its digital sales platform, to former CEO Eira Thomas and a group led by the Vancouver-based HRA Group of Companies.
The move gives Clara’s new owners the freedom to sell other diamonds, in addition to those produced by Lucara at its Karowe mine, in Botswana. It also allows Lucara to focus on the underground expansion of the mine.
Thomas, who stood down last August as Lucara CEO, led the commercialization of the Clara. She said it was designed to disrupt the way diamonds are traded after a century of inefficiency and inflexibility.
Clara’s new owners – HRA and Thomas – will pay $3m in cash and return 10,000,000 Lucara common shares initially issued as partial consideration when Lucara originally acquired the platform in 2018.
“We are excited about the opportunity to realize its full potential, which remains largely unexplored,” said Aaron Ariel, managing director and original founder of Clara.
“We believe it will become the industry’s premier global rough-diamond marketplace. We look forward to partnering with stakeholders throughout the supply chain who share our vision for a healthier, more transparent, and, last but certainly not least, a more profitable industry for all.”
Lucara will retain a 3% net profit interest on Clara’s net earnings and has granted Clara a five-year rough diamond supply agreement for stones meeting the size and quality specifications historically sold through the Clara platform.
Lucara’s larger stones – those over 10.8-cts – are sold via HB Antwerp as part of an ongoing 10-year agreement. They account for around 70 per cent of the company’s revenue.
William Lamb, president and CEO of Lucara, said: “The divestiture of Clara enables us to intensify our strategic focus on maximizing returns and long-term value creation at our world-class Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.
“While the Clara platform provides an innovative digital channel for rough diamond sales, the successful onboarding of other producers’ rough production required to scale the platform, remains unattainable while the platform is owned by a pure-play diamond producer.”
The Criminal Investigative Service (SIC) in Angola seized 710 diamonds of different carats on Sunday in Lucapa, a municipality in the northeastern Lunda-Norte province of Angola.
According to Graciano Lumanhe, the SIC spokesperson in Lunda-Norte, three individuals from Guinea Conakry were found in possession of the diamonds.
Angola Seizes 710 Diamond Stones From Three Guineans In addition to the diamonds, the officers also discovered a diamond weighing scale, two calculating machines, magnifying glasses, a sieve, and $860 and 68,000 kwanzas in cash during the operation.
All the evidence has been submitted to the Office of the Public Prosecutor as part of the preparations for criminal proceedings against the three suspects.
Rio Tinto launched on Wednesday its 2024 Beyond Rare tender, the second in its Art Series, showcasing 48 lots of extraordinarily rare stones from its diamonds business.
Titled Colour Awakened, this collection is headlined by seven “Old Masters”, notable historic diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia that operated from 1983 to 2020.
The Old Masters comprise seven round brilliant cut, pink and red diamonds, ranging in size from 0.60 carat to 2.63 carats. All unearthed from the mine over a decade ago in one case, as far back as 1987 each diamond has been carefully retrieved from private vaults and handpicked for inclusion in this year’s tender.
“No other mining company in the world has custody of such a kaleidoscope of coloured diamonds,” Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals said in the statement.
In addition to the Old Masters, the Art Series 02 includes legacy inventory of pink, red and violet diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine, together with white and yellow diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
“Four years on from the closure of the Argyle mine, our Beyond Rare Tender platform is a testimony to the enduring prestige of the Argyle Pink Diamonds brand, the quality of production from our Diavik mine, and the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds,” Kaufman said.
In total there are 76 diamonds, weighing 39.44 carats, comprising seven Old Masters, including one Fancy Red diamond; 32 single lots of pink and violet diamonds, including one Fancy Purplish Red diamond; and a rarified offering of nine carefully curated diamond sets, two of which include a 2.47 carat Fancy Intense Yellow diamond and a 4.04 carat D colour diamond, respectively, each from Diavik.
The 48 lots will be showcased in London, Australia, Singapore and Belgium, with bids closing on November 18.
