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Lucapa Angola Tender Rakes In $17M USD

Lucapa Diamond Company sold $16.7 million worth of rough stones from its Lulo mine at the first diamond tender under Angola’s new sales rules.

“The exceptional sale prices achieved for the Lulo diamonds reflected the highly competitive bidding from leading international diamantaires and large-stone manufacturers from eight countries that participated in the tender,” the company said Friday.

The miner sold seven special-size stones through an electronic tender in Luanda organized by state-owned diamond-marketing company Sodiam. Six white stones weighing 114.94, 85.24, 75.62, 70.08, 62.05 and 43.25 carats, and a 46.77-carat pink, fetched a combined average price of $33,530 per carat at the sale, which took place January 30 to 31. Lucapa has been withholding the stones from sale throughout the year to sell them under the reformed rules, which were designed to improve transparency and pricing.

Under the previous regulations, miners were required to sell their diamonds to a list of buyers Sodiam selected, limiting competition for the stones and causing pricing to fall below market levels. The new system allows companies to offer 60% of their production to clients of their choice.

Lucapa has now sold $141 million worth of rough Lulo diamonds since it began commercial operations in 2015, at an average price of $2,105 per carat.

The company’s share price rose 8% Friday following the announcement.

Source: Diamonds.net

Mountain Province Diamonds Announces Inclusion of 60 Carat Fancy Vivid Yellow Rough Diamond in its February Sale

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc today announces that it will include in it its upcoming, February rough diamond sale, an exceptional quality, 60.59 carat, fancy vivid yellow rough diamond. The diamond was recovered at the Company’s Gahcho Kué Mine in October 2018.

Reid Mackie, the Company’s Vice President Diamond Marketing commented “the discovery of this diamond demonstrates our ability to produce very large, high quality, fancy coloured diamonds. We are thrilled to be able to include it in our upcoming sale and present our customers with the opportunity to bid for this important piece of the mine’s history”.

Also included in the sale will be more than 50 other large, high quality white and fancy coloured rough diamonds. Viewings will take place between February 11^th to 21^st at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn in Antwerp, Belgium.

Mountain Province’s Gahcho Kué Mine, located at the edge of Canada’s Arctic Circle, is the world’s largest and richest new diamond mine and since the start of production in late 2016 has established itself as a regular producer of exceptional, gem quality, large diamonds. In 2018, Mountain Province sold more than 400 individual diamonds larger than 10.8 carats.

Source: prnewswire

New Alrosa Client List Excludes Leviev Firm

Alrosa has stopped supplying rough diamonds to Lev Leviev’s LLD Diamonds through its contract-sales arrangement, as part of a reshuffle of the miner’s long-term client list.

The tycoon’s Israel-based firm is one of “several” former customers that have dropped off the 2019 supply roster, known as the Alrosa Alliance program, the Russian company said.

“Last year, there was a decision to exclude LLD from the long-term client list due to noncompliance with Alrosa Alliance principles,” a spokesperson for the Russian producer explained in an email to Rapaport News this week. The Russian company has guidelines that state various possible reasons for suspending a client.

Alrosa has not confirmed the identity of the other companies it removed from the list.

LLD has been under the spotlight since Israeli police arrested several of its employees in November on suspicion of smuggling diamonds worth hundreds of millions of shekels into the country. Alrosa declined to say whether the move was directly related to the probe, while LLD did not respond to a request for comment.

The Alrosa Alliance accounts for about 70% of the miner’s rough sales by volume. It operates a similar arrangement to De Beers’ sightholder system, offering stable supply to companies that can demonstrate demand and comply with its rules on business practices.

Alrosa has expanded its list to 59 long-term buyers of gem-quality rough for 2019, from 56 last year. The six new members were Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Sang Sang, Indian diamond firms Kapu Gems, Mohit Diamonds, VD Global and M. Suresh Company, and Switzerland-based manufacturer Richold.

“We confirm the inviolability of Alrosa Alliance principles, and are interested in diversifying our client base, which has grown compared to last year,” said Evgeny Agureev, director of Alrosa’s United Selling Organization. While the new customers showed sufficient “trading activity” to warrant gaining long-term supply, “several companies dropped out from the list,” he added.

The miner also accepted two Belgian companies, H.D. Diam and IGC Group, as candidates for potential future long-term contracts. Both firms have previously bought from Alrosa in ad-hoc deals, known as spot transactions.

Last year, Alrosa switched to annual assessments of clients’ rough-diamond allocations, bringing its policy more in line with that of De Beers. Under the old system, Alrosa’s supply deals with clients held for three years.

Source: Diamonds.net

Mouawad Cuts Record Yellow Diamond

Mouawad Dragon Rough to Polished Diamond

Mouawad has manufactured a 54.21 carat polished yellow stone, which, it claims, is the largest of its shape and color the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has ever graded.

The company named the round brilliant cut, fancy vivid yellow stone the Mouawad Dragon, as its color is reminiscent of a “dragon’s magical powers and fiery eyes,” it said Monday.

The rough stone was found in an alluvial deposit in South Africa, and took Mouawad six months to cut and polish. The jeweler, which manufactures its rough in South Africa, New York and Bangkok, will set the stone in a necklace that will be part of an ensemble. The entire collection will be unveiled in March, the company told Rapaport News.

“We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to craft this extraordinary diamond from the rough, and we will soon continue the creative process by designing a masterpiece that befits its dazzling beauty,” said Fred Mouawad, co guardian of the jeweler’s diamond division.

In August, Mouawad bought the round, 51.38 carat, D color, VVS1 clarity, triple Ex Dynasty diamond from Alrosa at tender. It was the most expensive polished stone the Russia-based miner had sold. The jeweler has renamed the Dynasty originally the centerpiece of a five-stone collection that fetched approximately $10 million combined the Mouawad Dynasty. The stone now weighs 51.12 carats and has flawless clarity, Mouawad said. The company will reveal more details about its plans for the stone next month.

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers sells $505m rough diamonds in first sales cycle

Diamond producer De Beers on Tuesday reported that rough diamond sales in this year’s first sale cycle had reached $505-million.

This is $167-million less than the $672-million earned in the first sales cycle of 2018. Sales in the previous cycle – cycle ten of 2018 – reached $544-million.

“Rough diamond sales during the first sales cycle of 2019 were lower than those for the equivalent period last year, reflecting higher than normal sales in the previous cycle and the slow movement of lower-value rough diamonds through the pipeline,” De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver commented.

Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that diamond miners are struggling across the board, especially those producing cheaper and smaller gems where there is too much supply. Traders and manufacturers that buy them are also struggling to make a profit. Last month, some of Rio Tinto Group’s customers refused to buy cheaper diamonds, while De Beers has been forced to cut prices and offer concessions to buyers.

Source: miningweekly

Lucara recovers 240-ct gem from Karowe

Earlier this month, Lucara Diamond Corp. recovered a 127 carat top white diamond from its Karowe mine. And the good new just keeps coming. This time the company has recovered a 240 carat top white gem from the same mine.

Since mining began in 2012 at Karowe, a total of 43 diamonds heavier than 200 carats have been recovered, including 12 stones larger than 300 carats.

Lucara CEO Eira Thomas commented, “This top white 240 carat gem diamond was mined from the M/PK(S) unit within the South lobe, providing continuing confirmation that large, high quality gem diamonds are recovered throughout the kimberlite, in all lobes and phases on a regular basis.”

Petra Diamonds shares fall on lower diamond prices at flagship mine

Shares of Petra Diamonds Ltd slid as much as 10 percent on Monday after lower diamond prices at its flagship Cullinan mine and an increase in net debt took the shine off higher half-year revenue.

The company has been trying to keep a lid on debt after heavy investments and a stronger South African rand had burdened the miner, which pays in rands and earns in dollars.

Petra’s net debt jumped to $557.2 million (422.06 million pounds) in the six months to Dec. 31 from $538.9 million as at Sept. 30. The company was forced to raise $178 million last May by issuing equity to cut its debt burden.

Rough diamond prices fell to $96 per carat from $140 per carat in the previous year at the Cullinan mine, which in 1905 yielded the Cullinan diamond the largest rough gem diamond ever found and now part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

“The significantly lower realised Cullinan pricing and the impact on cashflow generation sees us take renewed caution,” said RBC, which cut the miner’s price target to 40 pence from 65 pence after the company’s half-year report.

Petra posted an 8 percent jump in revenue to $207.1 million, about 10 percent below RBC forecasts of $230 million, hurt by lower pricing at Cullinan. The company stuck to its production forecast 3.8 – 4.0 million carats for fiscal 2019.

Shares of the miner, which runs four mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, were 8.5 percent lower at 41.12 pence.

Source: Euronews

2H Slump Dents De Beers Sales Volume

De Beers’ sales volume fell 4% last year due to weakened demand for lower value diamonds in the second half.

The miner sold 33.7 million carats of rough, compared with 35.1 million carats in 2017, as clients bought fewer of its cheaper stones, it reported Thursday.

De Beers’ average price for sales excluding some sales by its joint-venture partners rose 6% to $171 per carat for the year, reflecting the larger proportion of higher-value goods. As a result, rough-sales value increased 2% to $5.39 billion for 2018, according to Rapaport estimates based on De Beers’ sight reports. The company’s average price index, which tracks its rough prices on a like-for-like basis, declined 1% in the second half, but ended 2018 up 1% versus the previous year.

Production grew 6% to 35.3 million carats, exceeding sales volume.

Sales jumped 21% to 9.9 million carats in the fourth quarter, with revenues also increasing, as the company allowed sightholders to defer purchases from the September sight to later months. Production grew 12% to 9.1 million carats for the quarter.

Source: Diamonds.net

STORNOWAY DIAMONDS MISSES 2018 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

Canadian diamond miner Stornoway Diamonds has produced 1.32 million carats in the 2018 financial year, missing its guidance of “at least 1.35 million carats” for the year, Mining Weekly reports.

President and CEO Patrick Godin said that 2018 was a “challenging year” for the company, as the ramp-up of underground production of the Renard 2 underground mine was “impacted by delays in equipment deliveries, a competitive labour market and the presence of more-than-expected low-grade mineralisation on the northern margin of the Renard 2 orebody”. However, the company’s third and fourth quarter production results “demonstrated significant improvements in grade and carat recoveries”. For 2019, Stornoway expects to produce between 1.8 million and 2.10 million carats.

As for sales, in 2018 Stornoway sold 1.04 million carats for gross proceeds of C$141 million ($106,362,645). In the fourth quarter, sales amounted to 253,929 carats, netting C$31 million (23,384,695).

Souce: israelidiamond

China Troubles Dent Luk Fook Sales

Luk Fook’s same store sales dropped 10% in the third fiscal quarter amid economic weakness in greater China.

The depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the Hong Kong dollar led customers to purchase cheaper products in the three months ending December 31, the retailer said Thursday.

Luk Fook, one of Hong Kong’s largest jewelers, derives a significant proportion of its revenue from tourists visiting the municipality from the mainland. The weakening of the yuan during 2018 reduced the purchasing power of those consumers, causing same store sales at branches open for more than a year to fall 9% year on year in Hong Kong and Macau. Same store sales in mainland China slid 14%.

“The recent market sentiment was adversely impacted by the US China trade war, the depreciation of the yuan , and the downward pressure in the stock and property markets,” the company added.

Same-store gold sales in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 9%, while gem set jewelry purchases fell 8%. The currency effect led to a double digit decline in the average selling price of gem set products, the jeweler noted.

In China, same store sales of gold products plunged 16%, while sales of gem set jewelry decreased 5% for the period.

Luk Fook’s results are for its self operated stores, and exclude licensed shops, which form the majority of its stores on the mainland.

Source: Diamonds.net