The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)
Buy and sell diamonds with the help of the experts
A court has awarded a limited victory to De Beers’ synthetic-diamond production unit in a patent dispute with Singapore-based grower IIa Technologies.
IIa infringed an Element Six patent related to diamond material that’s usable for lab-grown diamond jewelry and industrial applications, according to a High Court of Singapore judgment Friday. However, another Element Six patent for post-growth color treatment is invalid, judge Valerie Thean also ruled.
“We will continue to be vigilant for any other potential infringement of our [intellectual-property] rights around the globe,” Element Six CEO Walter Hühn said in a statement Friday. “We will defend our rights vigorously — just as any company would — because protecting our ability to get a full return on our investment in [research and development] is vital to our future.”
UK-based Element Six produces synthetic diamonds for De Beers’ lab-grown jewelry brand, Lightbox, and supplies diamond material for industrial and technological uses. The patent it successfully defended, SG 872, was relevant to optical applications such as infrared spectroscopy and high-power laser optics, as well as to the creation of stones for jewelry, De Beers explained.
IIa, which grows CVD goods for distributor and sister company Pure Grown Diamonds (PGD), must stop making, using, importing or maintaining possession of products that infringe patent SG 872, Thean ordered. She also called for the cancellation of Element Six’s patent SG 508, which relates to the annealing of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamonds.
“IIa Technologies has developed its proprietary process in the last 15 years, and is proud of the work we have done to bring lab-grown diamonds to the world,” Vishal Mehta, IIa’s CEO, said in a separate statement. “The current judgment will be considered in its entirety, and then the company will take necessary steps to protect its interests.”
The lawsuit, which Element Six filed in 2016, comes amid heightened patent-related legal activity in the synthetic-diamond sector. Last month, WD Lab Grown Diamonds sued six companies — including IIa and PGD — accusing them of infringing its patents for synthesis and treatment.
Source: Diamonds.net
Indian diamond traders purchasing rough precious stones from major Russian miner Alrosa could be eligible for loans from Russian banks, as domestic lenders have reduced financing for the gem and jewelry sectors.
Russian banks have already started granting money to Alrosa’s foreign clients, according to the Economic Times. The measure could boost India’s diamond industry, which has been lacking a source of financing since notorious jeweler Nirav Modi was accused of being involved in a $2.5+ billion fraud case in India. The billionaire was arrested in London in 2019 after managing to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in London for more than a year while on Interpol’s Red Notice list.
“This will definitely help those who buy rough diamonds from Antwerp,” the Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council’s Vice Chairman Colin Shah said, as quoted by the outlet. “If the Russian banks come forward with business-friendly lending norms, then it is good for the Indian diamond trade.”
Indian banks doing business in the epicenter of the diamond industry – Antwerp in Belgium, source of the bulk of rough diamonds that come to India – have winded down diamond financing in the city. Meanwhile, the lenders operating inside the country have also reportedly limited credit opportunities for the sector.
India has emerged as the largest diamond-cutting center in the world, with between 70 and 90 percent of all diamonds sent there to be cut. Russia’s Alrosa is the leading supplier of diamonds in the world, according to the company, and it has long been cooperating with the South Asian nation. The miner signed 14 long-term contracts with diamond manufacturing companies in India for 2018-2020, and in 2017 it supplied the country with precious stones worth almost $700 million.
Source: rt.com
Lucara Diamond Corp. has unearthed a 549-carat white diamond at its Karowe mine, the fourth-largest stone in the history of the Botswana deposit.
The unbroken stone, which is of “exceptional purity,” is the first large diamond Lucara has recovered using its Mega Diamond Recovery (MDR) equipment, the miner said Wednesday. The unit, which the miner commissioned in 2017, is specifically designed to recover large stones early in the extraction process to reduce the risk of breakage.
The rough stone is worth $15 million to $20 million, according to an estimate by Berenberg investment bank. However, it could potentially sell for more, the bank added.
The diamond came from the high-value EM/PK(S) portion of discovery of Karowe’s lucrative south lobe, Lucara noted. The same area yielded a 176-carat, gem-quality stone earlier this year, and was also the source of the 1,758-carat Sewelô, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 813-carat Constellation.
“Lucara is extremely pleased to be starting off 2020 with the recovery of two large, high-quality diamonds that build on the positive momentum generated following the completion of a strong fourth-quarter sale in December,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said.
Lucara has retrieved six diamonds over 100 carats since the beginning of the year. It will announce its plans for the sale of the 549-carat and 176-carat diamonds shortly.
The miner’s share price rose 4% in early trading Thursday following the announcement.
Source: Diamonds.net
Gem Diamonds Limited has announced the discovery of an exceptional 183-carat white Type IIa diamond from the Letseng mine in Lesotho on February 3.
The miner also announced that it also recovered two different high quality diamonds, one of 89 carats and the other of 70 carats, from the mine.
The Letseng mine is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.
The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Mining Company (ZCDC) failed to meet its 2019 target of 3 million carats, but officials are buoyant fortunes will turn around as the firm has consolidated its investments in exploration, mining and processing to improve output this year.
Speaking durng a media tour of Chiadzwa diamond fields on Friday last week, Acting ZCDC Chief Executive Officer Roberto DePreto said they are aiming to double the 1.6 million carats produced last year through joint venture agreements, increased exploration as well as mitigating viability challenges, linked to power shortages and access to foreign currency.
“Since the Diamond Policy was issued we are now looking for joint venture partners, those joint venture partners get allocated a particular concession and we then subdivide the (overall) 626 special grant into specific special grants for those venture companies.
“Last year we produced 1.6 million carats and this year we are targeting to double that through our investments in new plant machinery and our exploration capabilities,” said DePreto.
Consuming an average of 5 megawatts and at 25 000 of diesel daily, ZCDC has also invested in new plant machinery from Belarus which needs foreign currency for repair and maintenance, with at least seventy percent of consumables and spares imported.
Officials said such overheads have hampered production targets, costing in total a minimum of 8 million tons of unprocessed diamond ore from the down time caused by the listed operation constrains.
Mine manager, Innocent Guvakuva said focus will be placed on optimizing processing capacity, already on a positive trajectory following acquisition of new plant machinery, as well as improving power supply to reduce production downtime.
“Last year there were issues to do with power, this year there has been a bit of improvement but last year it was worse, issues to do with fuel and general forex availability because 70 percent of all consumables and spares we import.
“So, if your foreign currency access scenario is not stable you are bound to suffer, but this year things have started on a better note… one of the biggest challenges in Zimbabwe is that we are a cash economy.
“We lost a lot last year in terms of production down time we lost, probably in terms of total material mined we are looking at about 8 million tones that we could have moved last year, which is very big,” said Guvakuva.
He added, “We have installed a 450 ton per hour plant it’s got phases now we are installing phase three where carat production is expected to go up, our focus now in terms of mining we are stable but it’s the liberation and optimization of the plant that we will work on.”
Guvakuva said focus will also be placed on greenfield and ground field, together with exploration contractors under a ‘hybrid exploration model’ in the seven approved special grants in regions considered diamondiferous.
“We are increasing our exploration through a hybrid model in the sense that we have our own exploration drill rigs, commissioned them in 2018, they are called diamond drill rigs that can drill up to 250 metres, we have what we call a Reverse Circulation Rigs (RCO).
“We have also engaged contractors which makes it the hybrid model, they have done work right now the contract has ended, but we are doing a lot of exploration we have a lot of ground field and greenfield projects all over the place.
“ZCDC we have seven approved special grants, in this whole area which is about 26 to 30 kilometers its assumed to be diamondiferous, but the economics of it is what we do through exploration. To say we will be here for two or three years I will be lying (is an under estimation) but we will be here for a very long time,” said Guvakuva.
Source: allafrica
De Grisogono has filed for bankruptcy shortly after being caught up in an alleged money-laundering scandal involving the daughter of Angola’s former president and her husband.
Last week, media reports stated Isabel dos Santos’s husband, Sindika Dokolo, bought a stake in the Swiss luxury jeweler together with Angolan national diamond-trading company Sodiam through a Malta-based shell company. Over $150 million in Angolan money was invested in De Grisogono, Bloomberg reported.
The jeweler has now filed for creditor protection following failed talks to find a buyer over the last few months. If protection is granted, De Grisogono will implement a “mass redundancy procedure” in which all 65 employees at the Swiss office will be dismissed, the jeweler said Wednesday.
“Without financial support from the current shareholders, and without a new investor, unfortunately the company cannot continue as a going concern,” De Grisogono continued.
On January 22, Angola’s prosecutor general launched an investigation into dos Santos, while an Angolan court froze local assets belonging to her and her husband. Prosecutors alleged they were complicit in illegal transactions in Angola that cost the government $1.14 billion, the Bloomberg report explained.
Dos Santos said the news stories about her were part of a political witch hunt to discredit her, and she insisted her fortune was self-made.
Rumors concerning the jeweler’s connection to dos Santos had been circulating on social media since October 2017. The Instagram account @degrisogononews was specifically set up to bring attention to the questionable diamond-trading practices attributed to dos Santos and her husband.
Following the so-called Luanda Leaks reported by The New York Times and other international publications, gemstone dealer and explorer Yianni Melas revealed he was the Instagram account owner on January 20.
Melas went on a 31-day hunger strike in November and December 2017 to protest the sale of The Art of De Grisogono, Creation I at Christie’s Geneva. The necklace featured a 163.41-carat, D-flawless center diamond sourced in Angola.
On the news of the Swiss house going into bankruptcy, Melas told Rapaport News, “[During my hunger strike,] there is a photograph of me with my hands up in the air at the Acropolis because I knew that one day this would happen.”
“I feel mixed emotion, sadness about how an amazing brand associated with beautiful jewels would lose its name, but at the same time the overwhelming feeling is that I am happy because it belonged to somebody who didn’t deserve it. And also it’s a lesson to anyone who is involved with brands which are not good that initially it appears great and beautiful but in the end justice prevails,” Melas added.
Source: Diamonds.net
Graff-owned diamond manufacturer Safdico will cut and polish a portion of rough from the Lulo mine through a partnership with Lucapa Diamond Company.
Safdico will have the rights to buy up to 60% of Lulo’s annual rough production under the terms of Angola’s new reform program, which went into effect last year. The new guidelines open sales to a wider range of buyers of the miner’s choosing, rather than forcing producers to sell to a list of clients approved by state-owned diamond company Sodiam.
All diamonds Safdico purchases from Lucapa will be placed into the joint partnership, the miner said Wednesday. Once polished, procurement and manufacturing costs will be deducted, with any profit from the sale of the polished diamond to be split equally between Lucapa and Safdico.
Safdico has already purchased 4,900 carats of rough from Lucapa through the partnership. Profits from the sale of the first batch of polished will be realized in the first quarter, Lucapa noted.
Lucapa, which operates the mine in Angola, first announced its intention to polish its own diamonds in February 2019 in an effort to maximize shareholder value by cutting out third-party manufacturers. Earlier this month, the company also debuted its first polished stones from the Mothae mine in Lesotho. Those included six D-color diamonds from a 36-carat rough, the largest of which was a pear-shaped, 8.88-carat, flawless stone.
Lucapa also plans to expand its total group production to more than 60,000 carats in 2020, it said.
“This production increase, coupled with the new revenue streams generated from the cutting and polishing agreement with Safdico, will enable [the company] to generate higher returns for its partners,” Lucapa explained.
Source: Diamonds.net
Crystal brand Swarovski introduced 16 new synthetic-diamond colors at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.
The new hues fall into four creative categories in which Swarovski claims to play a role, it said last week. Each of the four areas — fashion, art, music and architecture — includes four colors of cushion-cut lab-grown diamonds.
Every category in the collection is led by a “hero” color. These include Androgyny Flamingo for fashion, Cubist Sky for art, Heavy Metal Cherry for music, and Gothic Cognac for architecture. Some of the other colors in the collection are Punk Lipstick, Surrealist Butter, Draped Fire and Electro Arctic.
The stones showcased in Paris range from 1.25 to 2.50 carats, while the 16 colors will be available at stores in 0.25- to 1.50-carat sizes.
“I’d like to think that these stones have endless potential, and are able to bring any idea to life,” said Markus Langes-Swarovski, a member of the Austrian jeweler’s executive board. “The colors, cuts and sizes are created to inspire jewelry that has never been made or even dreamed of. It’s a toolbox of unlimited creativity.”
Swarovski first launched laboratory-grown diamonds in 2018.
Source: Diamonds.net
De Beers plans to abandon its practice of using sightholders’ purchase history as the main factor in determining how it allocates rough supply, sources have told Rapaport News.
The move, which would go into effect from 2021, would see the miner shift to more subjective criteria for deciding the value of goods each client receives.
The current system, known as “demonstrated demand,” requires sightholders to buy the rough that De Beers has allotted them or risk losing access to De Beers’ diamonds in future. The method has faced criticism for encouraging dealers and manufacturers to take on unprofitable inventory.
But with the current sightholder agreement expiring at the end of this year, De Beers has told clients demonstrated demand will not be the main driver of allocations in the new contract period, the sources said. Discussions about the matter continued at this week’s January sight in Botswana.
The proposals include studying data about clients’ business activities, as well as qualitative factors, to help determine whether companies should be on the client list, a sightholder explained on condition of anonymity. De Beers is also considering reducing the number of sightholders, according to a Bloomberg report last week that Rapaport News could not corroborate.
“We will be communicating directly with customers in the coming months about the new sightholder contract period, which will focus on maximizing the considerable opportunities ahead in the diamond sector,” a De Beers spokesperson said. The company would not elaborate on the details.
The midstream’s accumulation of excess inventory contributed to a severe slowdown in the diamond market in 2019, with De Beers’ full-year sales falling 25% to $4.04 billion. Last July, Dutch bank ABN Amro wrote to its clients urging them to buy rough only when it’s profitable, and attacked the practice of making purchases purely to maintain supply allocations.
Sightholders are expecting this week’s De Beers sale — the first of the year — to be relatively large as the trade replenishes its stocks following a solid holiday season. De Beers raised prices in certain categories, sources said.
Soucre: Diamonds.net