News – Page 145

Zimbabwe Forecasts Surge in Diamond Output

Zimbabwe’s rough diamond production will more than triple to 11 million carats in 2025, according to the nation’s state-owned mining operation.

Output will grow at an average of 21% per year from 3 million carats in 2018, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) told Rapaport News Monday.

“This growth is anchored on investment of around $400 million across the entire diamond value chain in the next five years,” the spokesperson said.

In addition, the ZCDC named Killiam Ukama, an engineer, as the chairman of the ZCDC’s new board.

The ZCDC produced 1.8 million carats in 2017 from the controversial Marange diamond fields, where security forces killed more than 200 illegal workers in 2008. The company suspended sales for nine months last year as it carried out a restructuring, and resumed tenders in the first quarter of this year.

Source: diamonds.net

De Beers to Sell Diamonds Made in a Lab

De Beers, which almost single handedly created the allure of diamonds as rare, expensive and the symbol of eternal love, now wants to sell you some party jewelry that is anything but.

The company announced today that it will start selling man-made diamond jewelry at a fraction of the price of mined gems, marking a historic shift for the world’s biggest diamond miner, which vowed for years that it wouldn’t sell stones created in laboratories. The strategy is designed to undercut rival lab-diamond makers, who having been trying to make inroads into the $80 billion gem industry.

De Beers will target younger spenders with its new diamond brand and try to capture customers that have been resistant to splurging on expensive jewelry. The company is betting that it can split the market with mined gems in luxury settings and engagement rings at the top, and lab-made fashion jewelry aimed at millennials at the bottom.

“Lab grown are not special, they’re not real, they’re not unique. You can make exactly the same one again and again,” Bruce Cleaver, chief executive officer of De Beers, said in an interview Tuesday.

Unlike imitation gems such as cubic zirconia, diamonds grown in labs have the same physical characteristics and chemical makeup as mined stones. They’re made from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball. The process creates particles that can eventually crystallize into diamonds in weeks. The technology is so advanced that experts need a machine to distinguish between synthesized and mined gems.

A host of lab-grown diamond makers and retailers have sprung up in recent years. Diamond Foundry, one of the biggest producers, grows diamonds in a California laboratory and has been backed by Leonardo DiCaprio. Warren Buffett’s Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc. also sells the stones.

Customers are currently “confused” by the difference between mined and lab-produced diamonds, Cleaver said. De Beers is hoping to create big price gap with its new product, which will sell under the name Lightbox in the U.S. A 1-carat man-made diamond sells for about $4,000 and a similar natural diamond fetches roughly $8,000. The lab diamonds from De Beers will sell for about $800 a carat.

Lowest Cost

Still, De Beers says that its move isn’t to disrupt existing lab-diamond producers, but create a small, profitable business in its own right.

“Given we are the lowest-cost producer, we can make a good business out of this,” Cleaver said. “We have the tools, why wouldn’t we do this?”

De Beers is so adamant that the man-made diamonds are not competing with mined stones that it will not grade them in the traditional way. That’s a stark contrast to current man-made sellers who offer ratings such as clarity and color, replicating terminology used for natural stones.

“We’re not grading our lab-grown diamonds because we don’t think they deserve to be graded,” Cleaver said. “They’re all the same.”

The pricing strategy will also be different. De Beers plans to charge $200 for a quarter-carat, $400 for a half and $800 for a carat, another sharp break from natural stones that rise exponentially in price the bigger the diamond gets.

Man-Made Gems

While De Beers has never sold man-made diamonds for jewelry before, it’s very good at making them. The company’s Element Six unit is one of the world’s leading producers of synthetic diamonds, which are mostly used for industrial purposes. It has also been producing gem-quality stones for years to help it tell the difference between natural and man-made types and to reassure consumers that they’re buying the real thing.

Man-made gems currently make up a small part of the diamond market, but demand is increasing. Global diamond production was about 142 million carats last year, according to analyst Paul Zimnisky. That compares with lab production of less than 4.2 million carats, according to Bonas & Co.

De Beers has been researching lab-made diamonds since the end of World War II and accelerated its work after a Swedish company synthesized the first diamond in 1953. The company has focused on lab diamonds for industrial uses, but also kept investing in technology for jewelry-grade gems.

The shift to lab-diamond jewelry comes at a sensitive time for De Beers and its relationship with Botswana, the source of three quarters of its diamonds. The two have a sales agreement that lets the company market and sell gems from Botswana, giving De Beers its power over global prices. The deal will soon be up for negotiation and Botswana is likely to push for more concessions.

On Tuesday, De Beers said it had extensive talks with Botswana about the decision to sell man-made diamonds and the country supports the move.

Source: bloomberg.com

Royal Diamond Tiara to be sold by Christie’s

The Belle Époque diamond tiara which belonged to the crown princess of Yugoslavia, will go up for sale at Christie’s London summer auction.

The Headpiece dates back to 1905 is part of the collection of the princes of Orléans Braganza, and features pear shaped and rose cut diamonds cut in the old style.

Estimate for the tiara by the auction house range from $186,900 to $280,350.

D1 Mint buys 1500 investment quality diamonds for new diamond backed crypto coin

The emergence of blockchain technology is helping to turn diamonds into a new investment asset class that in turn, could drive future demand for natural diamonds, the creator of a new diamond backed crypto coin said on Friday.

Singapore based D1 Mint Limited, the creator of the diamond backed D1 Coin, announced on Friday that it has signed a purchase order with diamond cutting and polishing company KGK Diamonds to start its diamond reserve with 1 500 investment-grade diamonds delivered by Russian diamond producer Alrosa, valued at close to $20 million, and which are deposited at a vault in Antwerp, Belgium, the global centre for the diamond trade.

“Today we made a huge step forward in the development of D1, a project started a year ago to create an asset backed token and to make diamonds an investable asset class,” D1 founder Hogi Hyun said.

The purchase order is meant to establish a reserve for digital tokens backed by gem quality diamonds certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Each D1 Coin is pegged to the value of a fraction of an authentic, natural diamond, as determined by the proprietary pricing algorithm, the D1 Matrix.

According to D1 Mint, diamonds are an ideal asset backing for a coin since they are rare, taking a billion years to develop, and have several millennia of history as a recognised store of wealth and value.

The diamonds in the D1 reserve will be sent to GIA in New York to be graded, laser-etched and packed in tamper proof packaging, before being shipped to secure vaults in Singapore and Switzerland. Logistics and warehousing are provided by established specialists such as Brinks and Malca Amit, while insurance is provided by Lloyds of London.

Further, D1 Coins provide users the ability at any point in time to select specific diamonds from the diamond reserve and convert their tokens into diamonds at a fixed price determined by D1 Matrix. D1 Coins provide a direct exposure to the price of diamonds, opening a new asset class to investors globally. In addition, as an asset-backed token, the D1 Coin provides an excellent means of exchange and store of value in the crypto markets.

Alrosa noted that the approach taken by D1 “will succeed in making natural diamonds an investment asset class attractive to various investor groups, drive higher demand for natural diamonds and support further growth of the diamond industry in Russia”, Alrosa board member and D1 advisory committee member Alexei Chekunkov noted.

“The convenience of blockchain will help turn diamonds into a respectable investment asset class that in turn will drive future demand for natural diamonds.”

PHYSICAL DEMAND
Independent New York diamond analyst Paul Ziminisky noted in comments to Mining Weekly Online that the potential for new diamond demand is there, but blockchain does not necessarily address the traditional challenge of investing in physical diamonds with its fungibility, or lack thereof.

“I think the success of products like these will rest on the reputation of the funds and the custodians, for example, confidence that the underlying asset is accurately reflected in the coin. This can be mitigated somewhat with auditing.”

According to him, gold has done quite well in securitised form, and he believes that this is in part due its fungibility, and the simplicity that comes with that. “So gold has a natural advantage relative to diamonds as a securitised physical investment vehicle in that sense.”

“In general, I see securitised forms of physical commodities more as trading vehicles than investments. I think the inherent desire to hold physical diamonds as an investment, or as a store of value significantly rests in the desire to physically possess the asset,” Zimnisky commented.

Source: miningweekly

9ct. Synthetic Sets ‘World Record’

WD Laboratory Grown Diamonds has created what it claims to be the world’s largest known synthetic diamond made using chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

The ideal cut, round brilliant 9.04 carat, VS2 clarity stone broke the synthetic diamond producer’s own previous world record of 6 carats, the company said last week.

“No other CVD diamond manufacturer has come close to this size and quality,” Clive Hill, its founder and chairman, claimed. “But this is not an easy task, and we overcame significant hurdles that we’ll undoubtedly face and overcome again.”

WD Lab Grown Diamonds intends to work on producing even larger CVD synthetics, Hill added.

Petra Diamonds needs to raise $178 million to urgently cut debt

Mining firm Petra Diamonds said it aims to raise $178 million to help cut its debt burden, and warned it could run low on working capital and breach its debt covenants if shareholders do not back the proposed rights issue.

Petra, which last month finalised an agreement with its lenders for a waiver of its December 2017 debt covenant and a resetting of debt agreements for this year, said it would offer new shares at 40 pence.

That marks a 35.6 percent discount to the theoretical ex-rights price of 62.15 pence calculated in reference to the closing price of its shares on Wednesday.

Shares in the London-listed company tumbled as much as 19 percent after the company’s statement.

“If the resolutions to be proposed at the special general meeting are not passed, the rights issue will not take place and the company will not receive the net proceeds from the rights issue of approximately US$170 million,” Petra said in a statement announcing the new share issue.

“In such circumstances, the company is of the opinion that the working capital available to the group will not be sufficient during the working capital period based on the reasonable worst case scenario.”

Investors will vote on the rights issue in a special general meeting set for June 13.

Petra has been hit by production delays, strikes, a confiscated consignment of diamonds and a strong South African rand and has sought waivers from its lenders three times.

There were also no refunds on value-added-tax (VAT) from the Tanzanian government.

Petra said it would use up to $120 million from the cash call to pay down debt and the balance would buffer its working capital against the strength in the rand.

Petra’s debt had risen to $622 million as of last month, from $500.2 million at the end of March 2017.

The company targets a reduction in the leverage of 2 times or less net debt to core earnings or EBITDA by the end of 2020.

The fund raising is underwritten by RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and Barclays.

“We expect the share price to trade down towards the ex-rights price, but our view is that once the refunding is completed price appreciation is likely,” said Canaccord Genuity analyst Des Kilalea.

“This is because the risk from the balance sheet will be reduced and returns from improved operations will flow through to equity.”

Reporting by: Zandi Shabalala

HOW TO BUY A LABORATORY GROWN DIAMOND

NEX diamonds are type 2A diamonds the best laboratory created diamonds available and rarest of diamonds crystals.

NEX Diamonds are Australia’s trusted name in laboratory created diamond, with a direct factory buying service.

The world’s most technically advanced factory producing the finest Laboratory grown diamonds certified by GCAL or IGI, directly to you from the factory.

Experts are here to guide you through your purchase where ever you choose to buy.

Buy here: NEX Diamonds

Forevermark Unveils New Concept Store in China

Forevermark has launched a concept store in Shanghai tailored to millennial shopping habits, marking its 1,000th branch in China.

The opening of the store, named Libert’aime, also celebrates the brand’s 10th anniversary of entering the country. The De Beers-owned brand designed the branch’s diamond-jewelry line with a young, self-purchasing consumer in mind, it said Tuesday.

The store combines online and offline platforms, including a WeChat store. It also features digital experiences such as a 3D diamond wall, and a “magic mirror” that allows customers to share pieces with friends and family.

The store includes sections dedicated to different product types. The “diamond bar” will feature daily-wear diamond jewelry, while fancy-cut and multi-diamond pieces will be located in the “spectacular diamond” area.

“[Libert’aime] brings together an innovative in-store offering with online and social channels to provide customers with a highly engaging and personalized buying experience,” Forevermark CEO Stephen Lussier said. “We recognize that our consumer continues to evolve and, with Libert’aime by Forevermark, we are thrilled to be offering a diamond-jewelry range that has been designed with a younger, more fashion-forward consumer in mind, who might just be starting their diamond journey.”

The Shanghai store will also feature a new collection, LE LIGHT, designed by popular Chinese actor and musician Timmy Xu Weizhou.

In addition, De Beers Diamond Jewellers has opened a new store in the luxury SKP shopping mall in Xi’an, its sixth in mainland China. The new branch will feature three separate divisions: one for bridal jewelry, a second with collections such as the Talisman, Enchanted Lotus and Dewdrop lines, and a third showcasing high-jewelry pieces.

Source: diamonds.net
Credit: Matt Crabb/De Beers

Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 25 carat yellow

Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 25 carat yellow diamond from its 70% owned Mothae mine in Lesotho during its first two days of trial processing at the project.

The yellow diamond was unearthed from the Neck zone of the Mothae kimberlite, which is not part of the current 1 million carat JORC resource.

115 carat top white diamond recovered by Gem Diamonds

Gem Diamonds announced the recovery of a 115 carat, top white colour Type IIa diamond from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.