De Beers – Page 25 – 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

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.

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.

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.

$16.5 Million for 476 Carat Meya Prosperity Diamond

Graff Jewellers a leader in the diamond business since 1960 has purchased the 476 carat rough diamond named The Meya Prosperity Diamond.

The Rough diamond was mined in Sierra Leone.

Graff paid $16.5 million for the exceptional rough diamond , another in a long line of extraordinary diamond bought by Graff.

The magnificent rough diamond is the 29th largest diamond ever recovered and is the fifth largest stone from Sierra Leone.

Rough Demand Stable at $450M De Beers Sight

De Beers South Africa mining staff Venetia

De Beers reported steady demand for rough diamonds at its December sight as sales showed an increase over the equivalent period last year.

The miner sold $450 million worth of rough in its final sales cycle of the year, including last week’s sight in Gaborone and its auctions, it reported Tuesday. Provisional proceeds rose 6.6% compared with actual sales for the same period last year, though they slipped 3.4% from November sales.

Yellow Diamonds Sell At Bonhams

In 1940 when R.V. Cullinan the son of the renowned diamond magnate Sir Thomas Cullinan asked De Beers director Pierre De Villiers to buy him some diamonds on his next visit to Kimberley.

A collection of Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds owned by South Africa’s mining elite has sold at a Bonhams auction for well above its expected price.

The collection sold as two separate lots at the for a total of $773,350.

Graff Blue Diamond Ring Fetches $12.5 Million

A crossover ring with two fancy vivid blue diamonds designed by Graff Jewellers has smashed its pre-sale estimate.

The ring has sold at the Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction fetching more than $12.5 million USD.

Letšeng Finds Seventh Big Diamond of the Year

Gem Diamonds Letseng 202 carat rough diamond

Diamond Miner Gem Diamonds has found a 202 carat rough diamond at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, Sothern Africa. The rough diamond is the latest of seven recovered over 100 carats this year.

The D colour type IIa diamond was recovered when they mine switched to the higher grade K6 section of the main pipe earlier this year.

The Letšeng mine is one of the highest diamond deposits by value in the world with the an average price of $2,397 per carat for the July tender.

Debmarine Splashes $142M on Diamond Ship

De Beers is planning to add the world’s largest custom built diamond mining vessel to its fleet at a cost of $142 million.

The ship will be the sixth belonging to Debmarine Namibia, a 50/50 joint venture between the miner and the Republic of Namibia, De Beers said Tuesday. Expected to begin operations in 2021, it will enhance the company’s ability to recover diamonds off the southern African country’s Atlantic coast, the rough producer added.

“There is a great amount of potential in Namibia’s marine diamond deposits, and this new vessel will support our strategy to continue to grow our offshore operations,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver.

Earlier this year, De Beers launched the MV SS Nujoma, the world’s largest diamond sampling and exploration vessel. Acquiring the new ship will help the company capitalize on that vessel’s work, and support the long-term future of Namibia’s diamond sector, Cleaver added.

Kleven Verft, a Norwegian ship-building company that constructed the Nujoma, will also build the new vessel, and has signed a memorandum of understanding with De Beers.

Source: Diamonds.net