News – Page 120 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

Israel Gives $284M Boost to Diamond Trade

The Israeli government has pledged $284 million (NIS 1 billion) to guarantee bank loans to diamond companies in an effort to ease the trade’s severe credit difficulties.

A lack of credit is stifling growth, especially among the smaller firms that constitute about 70% of the Israeli trade, according to a special committee set up to investigate the sector’s challenges.

The team — led by Naama Kaufman-Pass, deputy director-general of the nation’s Ministry of Economy and Industry — released its findings earlier this month, highlighting several ways in which the industry had hit a crisis.

Banks’ perception of the diamond sector as high-risk has led to a decline in total lending to the Israeli trade from $2.5 billion in 2008 to about $1 billion last year, the committee said in its report. Financial institutions are also refusing to accept dealers’ inventory as collateral, while competition from India and Belgium has added further damage to Israel’s market position.

To this end, the government fund will back companies’ borrowing, meaning that if they fail to repay a loan to a bank, the state will pay. While the committee submitted the policy to Eli Cohen, minister of industry and economy, as a recommendation, the lawmaker said the government was set to go ahead with the program.

“We have decided to allocate another billion shekels over the next five years to the diamond sector through credit guarantees,” Cohen told an audience at the International Diamond Week in Israel last week.

In addition, the committee suggested the government provide money for the bourse’s newly launched innovation laboratory, put cash into bringing more diamond buyers to Israel, support efforts to develop e-commerce opportunities, and contribute to other projects to boost the industry.

“The committee identified the main hurdles in small businesses’ activities in the sector, and its recommendations offer a comprehensive response to its needs,” Kaufman-Pass said.

The diamond trade is an important segment of the Israeli economy, representing about 13% of total exports, and employing about 9,500 people, according to the report. However, the 2008 global financial crash led to a 27% slump in Israel’s polished-diamond exports between that year and 2016, with the Chinese market slump in 2015 also denting demand.

“Implementing the committee’s conclusions, alongside other steps, is essential, considering the crisis the sector has been through,” Cohen added in a statement. “Their purpose is to provide new tools to help deal with challenges in the trade and to ease regulation, thereby growing both production and exports.”

Shay Rinsky, director-general of the Ministry of Economy and Industry, set up the committee in September to delve into issues of credit and growth in the diamond trade and examine how to bring the industry forward.

Source: diamonds.net

Lucapa recovers more diamonds at Lesotho mine

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond has announced workers at its 70% owned Mothae mine in Lesotho have recovered diamonds sourced from residual material and kimberlite stockpiles.

The company said the rough diamonds were recovered through the existing bulk sampling plant and infrastructure at Mothae, which has been refurbished ahead of schedule as part of a previously announced bulk sampling program.

According to the statement the largest rough diamond recovered in the test run is 6.6 carats.

World’s largest rarest and most valuable D Flawless round diamond

102.34 carat D colour Flawless round diamond

To celebrate its one year anniversary, this morning Sotheby’s Diamonds revealed its most exceptional gem to date: a 102.34 carat, D Flawless, Type IIA round brilliant diamond, which the auction house describes as “the rarest and most valuable white diamond ever to come to market”.

The diamond was cut from a 425-carat rough mined by the De Beers group in Botswana. The cutting process took over six months and required the diamond to be transported between Johannesburg and New York.

New Guidelines Clarify: ‘Diamond’ Means ‘Natural’

Leading groups in the diamond and jewelry sectors have collaborated to publish a universal standard to use when referring to natural diamonds and synthetics.

The Diamond Terminology Guideline is a reference on diamond vocabulary for all sector organizations, traders and retailers to use, nine industry bodies said in a joint statement Tuesday.

The document stipulates that the words “diamond” and “gemstone” imply natural origin. The industry should use “synthetic,” “laboratory-grown” or “laboratory-created,” and should avoid the terms “real,” “genuine” and “authentic,” when describing such man-made products.

“Protecting consumer confidence is of paramount importance to the long-term success of our industry,” World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) president Gaetano Cavalieri said. “The Diamond Terminology Guideline is an important tool in achieving this, by helping standardize the terminology used to clearly distinguish between diamonds and synthetic diamonds, in all communications, among ourselves and with our customers.”

The guidelines are based on the ISO Standard 18323 for jewelry and on CIBJO’s diamond Blue Book, which are internationally accepted benchmarks in the field.

The parties that created the document, in addition to CIBJO, are: the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the Israel Diamond Industry (IDI), the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), the US Jewelry Council (USJC), the World Diamond Council (WDC) and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFBD).

Source: diamonds.net

DCLA provides reports for natural origin Diamonds only.

De Beers Will Start Auctioning Other Mines Goods

De Beers will begin auctioning rough diamonds from other mining companies to provide a broader range of goods.

The company will pilot the new program this year, making it easier for customers to buy their entire supply in one place, Neil Ventura, De Beers executive vice president of auction sales, said on Monday.

“One message that’s come through from our recent customer engagements is a desire for us to develop our supply offering in certain areas, so that there is a fuller and broader range of material available for purchase,” Ventura said.

“Based on this customer feedback, in 2018 we will be testing the potential to grow our core rough-diamond sales business through making some purchases from third-party sources,” he added.

The diamonds will come from miners which De Beers has carried out due diligence, and will only be a small minority of the goods De Beers offers.

NY Diamond Dealers Club Opens New Trading Floor

The Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) of New York has moved into its new home in the International Gem Tower.

The opening event at the upgraded premises was the seventh India Diamond Week, which attracted more than 60 exhibitors and several hundred buyers, organizers said.

“The response to our new space has been incredibly encouraging, with many companies from both New York and overseas agreeing that this is the place to trade diamonds in New York,” said DDC president Reuven Kaufman. “This year, as in years past, large quantities of goods have been bought and sold at the Diamond Dealers Club in New York.”

The event was organized by DDC in conjunction with India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Source: Diamonds.net

Diamond Miner Gem Diamonds Finding More Huge Stones

Gem Diamonds has recovered another 100 carat plus rough diamond this year.

The recovery of the D colour type IIa stone shortly after the recovery of a 910 carat D colour IIa rough diamond from Letšeng last week.

Gem Diamonds began extracting ore from a higher grade part of Letšeng last year, resulting in the increase of large stones.

Gem Diamonds Letseng mine is located in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.

Historic 910 carat, The Fifth Largest Diamond Recovered

Gem Diamonds has recovered a 910 carat rough diamond at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the fifth largest rough ever found.

The D colour type IIa diamond is the largest to be unearthed at Letšeng, outranking the 603 carat Lesotho Promise recovered in 2006.

That stone was sold for $12.4 million, to Graff Diamonds, which owns a 15% stake in Gem Diamonds.

Last year, Graff bought the 1,109 carat Lesedi la Rona, the second largest rough diamond in history, for $53 million, or $47,790 per carat.

The discovery follows a recent revival of exceptionally large stones recovered at Letšeng, which is known for its high value production.

GIA Unveils Plans for Labs in Surat and Antwerp

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will this year open a laboratory in Surat, and expand its operations in Antwerp to include diamond grading.

The GIA has secured premises for the two locations, and expects to open both in the second quarter, it said Monday.

The Surat laboratory will bring the GIA’s services — including its Melee Analysis Service for detecting synthetics — closer to companies in that important manufacturing hub, the organization noted. In Antwerp, it will introduce diamond-grading services, and increase capacity for its mine-to-market (M2M) program, which matches rough diamonds to their resulting polished, the lab said.

“Expanding our facility in Antwerp, and opening a new location in Surat, continues GIA’s mission-driven effort to bring our research-based laboratory services for diamonds, colored stones and pearls ever closer to our clients,” said Tom Moses, the GIA’s executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer.

Clients will be able to drop off goods for every service at both the Surat and Antwerp labs, the GIA added.

Image: Valerie Power/GIA

Source: Diamonds.net

Two 100 carat plus rough diamonds recovered at Lesotho mine

Gem Diamonds Lesotho mine in southern Africa

The two Rough diamonds each weighing more than 100 carats were recovered by Gem Diamonds at the Lesotho mine in southern Africa.

Both rough Diamonds weight 117 carats and 110 carats are D color Type IIa diamonds.

Type IIa diamonds carbon bonds contain little or no nitrogen atoms making them very white and rare. These are the most expensive white diamonds.