De Beers to ‘Progress’ WDC Protocol on Russian Diamonds

The diamond sorting center in Mirny, Sakha Republic, Russia, November 14, 2013.

De Beers has put its weight behind the World Diamond Council (WDC) plan for sidelining Russian goods amid continued controversy over the competing proposals.

“In pursuit of a collaborative, coherent and collective solution that supports the aims of the G7, we have joined with 22 diamond-industry organizations through the World Diamond Council to progress the ‘G7 Diamond Protocol’ proposal,” De Beers CEO Al Cook wrote in an open letter to Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Thursday. “

The protocol — one of a few plans for keeping Russian diamonds out of G7 nations — calls for importers to declare on invoices that stones do not originate from mining companies operating in Russia. The companies making the claims will undergo audits.

While the WDC-led proposal has received wide industry support, it has also drawn criticism for creating a burden for small-scale industry members — including by Rapaport Group Chairman Martin Rapaport.

One other plan, from the Belgian government and supported by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), proposes using technology to confirm the source of goods, with the European city as a suggested center point for the trade of stones with known provenance.

Two further proposals — from India and a French jewelry group — were also on the table at a G7 meeting on Thursday, Reuters reported.

In another letter earlier this month, the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) attacked the process for not consulting people on the continent and claimed some of the plans would harm its members and artisanal miners. It highlighted the “G7 Certificate Scheme” — an apparent reference to the Belgian plan — as well as the WDC protocol.

“The proposed changes will bring supply-chain disruption, added burden, and costs to the ADPA mining nations,” the ADPA wrote in the October 13 letter to the Zimbabwe Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Soda Zhemu, who is chairing the Kimberley Process (KP) this year.

The plans will set a precedent for segregating diamonds by origin and damage producing countries’ ability to cut and polish their rough, the group argued.

In the case of the Belgian proposal, “additional costs will be incurred when a parcel of rough diamonds needs to be first shipped to Antwerp to then be reshipped to the country of origin to be polished,” said the Angola-based ADPA, which represents 19 countries that together account for 60% of global rough production.

Efforts to sift Russian diamonds out of G7 markets have taken on momentum since the bloc — which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the European Union — pledged to “work closely together to restrict trade” in those goods in May.

Where Are All the Russian Diamonds?

However, while there has been agreement about the need to stop Russia obtaining diamond revenues to fund its war in Ukraine, the process of implementing this has proven complex.

“Throughout our discussions, two things have been clear: why we should do this is easy, but how we should do it is hard,” said Cook.

The executive called for G7 leaders to obtain input from the industry and not exclude relevant groups, including artisanal miners.

“We look forward to further engagement with the G7 around the World Diamond Council proposal and urge those that have submitted proposals to work together to create an effective and practical solution,” Cook continued.

The industry had expected any measures to go into effect in January 2024. However, that schedule is now looking unlikely, JCK reported Friday, citing sources involved in the plans.

“We fully agree with Al [Cook]’s view that the results of our efforts to meet the G7 objectives should be collaborative, coherent and collective,” said WDC executive director Elodie Daguzan in a statement to Rapaport News. “In [the] WDC’s own words, it is what we call ‘an industry proposal that is effective and implementable now and that leaves no one behind.’ Also, we understand that the statement made by ADPA is not against the WDC-facilitated protocol but rather against the G7’s objectives without engagement with African producers.”

Source: Diamonds.net

Rio Tinto to Hold Tender of 87 Fancy-Colored Diamonds

Rio Tinto has launched the Beyond Rare Tender, an inaugural collection of 48 lots of polished fancy-colored diamonds.

The miner will offer 87 diamonds in total, including its legacy inventory of pink and red stones from the shuttered Argyle diamond mine in Australia and yellow diamonds from its Diavik site in Canada, it said on Tuesday.

The new collection is “a testimony to the ongoing demand for highly collectible natural diamonds,” said Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals. “This carefully curated collection of rare jewels will be in strong demand by the world’s finest jewelers, collectors and diamond connoisseurs.”

Titled The Art Series, the invitation-only tender is inspired by the art world, the company said. The combined weight of the diamonds is 29.96 carats.

They include the following:

  • Seven diamonds consisting of Argyle pink stones and yellow Diavik ones, which the company says will be accompanied by bespoke artwork.
  • An offering of 11 matched pairs of colored diamonds.
  • Thirty single diamonds, including one distinctive fancy-red Argyle diamond.

The closure of the Argyle mine in Australia and the continued strong demand for exceptional fancy pink and red diamonds means the market for Argyle pink and red diamonds “have never been stronger,” said Patrick Coppens, general manager of sales and marketing for Rio Tinto’s diamonds business.

The 48 lots will be shown in Australia, Switzerland and Belgium, with bids closing on November 20.

Source: Rapaport

Gem Diamonds Recovers 102ct. Rough from Letšeng

Gem Diamonds has unearthed a 101.96-carat rough from its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, its second stone over 100 carats so far this year.

The miner discovered the gem-quality, type IIa diamond on September 28, it said Wednesday. The find follows that of a 122-carat stone on March 5.

While Letšeng had previously been known for producing high-quality rough diamonds topping the 100-carat mark, that supply has been declining. Last year, the miner retrieved only four diamonds of that magnitude, versus six in 2021 and 16 in 2020.

The lack of special-size stones has hurt the company’s revenue, with sales falling 28% year on year to $71.8 million in the first six months of 2023. The miner incurred a loss of $1 million, compared to a profit of $3.8 million during the same period in 2022.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucapa Diamonds names Selby CEO and MD

Australia’s Lucapa Diamonds has appointed interim chief executive Nick Selby as its permanent CEO and Managing Director.

Selby, an extraction metallurgist who joined Lucapa in 2014, took the helm in August this year following former boss Stephen Wetherall’s decision to step down earlier this year.

The new CEO began his career with De Beers, where he spent 19 years in a range of technical roles. He joined Gem Diamonds in 2005, where he was responsible for various diamond projects in countries including Angola, Australia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Indonesia, Lesotho and Botswana.

Lucapa has a 40% interest in the Lulo mine, in Angola, and a 70% interest in the Mothae mine in Lesotho. The company, debt-free since July, is exploring for more diamonds at Lulo as it works toward bringing its Merlin project in Australia into production.

Merlin is home to Australia’s largest mined rough diamond on record and has the potential to be the only producing diamond mine in Australia, following the closure of Rio Tinto’s iconic Argyle mine in 2020, after 37 years in production.

Source: Mining.com

Sarine Extends Traceability to Melee Diamonds

Sarine is introducing a traceability solution for melee diamonds.

The Israel-based diamond tech company is expanding its existing technology to cover the smaller stones (generally under 0.2-cts) widely used in jewelry settings.

“To guarantee responsible sourcing of melee and enhance consumer confidence, we specifically aim to enhance the certainty regarding the diamonds’ provenance, by establishing a verifiable documented link between the rough diamonds and their origin and the polished stones used in the jewellery piece,” the company said.

Sarine partnered with the high-end French jeweler Rubel & Menasche, to develop and test its new, data-backed verifiable traceability system, which scales up its tried and tested Journey technology to handle large quantities of small stones. Parcels are initially registered on the Autoscan Plus system.

Rubel & Menasche described the new technology as an “important milestone”. David Block, Sarine’s CEO, said: “This initiative reaffirms our commitment to a more transparent diamond industry.”

Source: IDEX

Six Die in Diamond Mine Plane Crash

Indian mining billionaire Harpal Randhawa, his son, and four others died when their plane crashed en route to the Murowa diamond mine, in Zimbabwe.

The Cessna 206 aircraft belonged to Randhawa’s RZM Murowa, a company that part-owns and operates the mine. It also produces gold and coal and refines nickel and copper.

Randhawa and his 22-year-old son Amer set off from Harare on Friday morning (29 September). Their plane came down in the southwestern part of the country, reportedly due a technical fault.

Zimbabwe police said the crash happened between 7.30 am and 8am, and confirmed the deaths of all six people on board.

“The Murowa Diamond Company (RioZim)-owned white and red Zcam aircraft had left Harare for the mine at 6 am and crashed about 6 km from Mashava,” it said.

Planes are often used as a secure method of transporting diamonds. In February a light aircraft transporting diamonds from Murowa came down in a field, also after experiencing technical problems.

The pilot suffered head injuries and was said to be in a critical condition. Four passengers were in a stable condition.

Source: IDEX

Rough Sales for Ekati Mine Rise Despite Market Slowdown

Revenue from the Ekati mine’s rough output climbed 11% during the third quarter, according to owner Burgundy Diamond Mines.

The company sold 784,000 carats of rough from the Canadian deposit for $90 million in total between July 1 and September 13 up from 901,000 carats for $81 million a year earlier. Burgundy reported these figures last month as sales-to-date for the quarter, which ended September 30.

“The sales results…demonstrate the differentiated value of Burgundy diamonds and our transparent and credible sales channels, despite a softer-than-usual market,” said Burgundy CEO Kim Truter.

Burgundy purchased Ekati from Arctic Canadian Diamond Company for $136 million in March. At the same time, it chose not to pursue its options at the Ellendale mine in Australia, of which it had considered taking ownership.

Burgundy had approximately $139 million in rough inventory at the end of August, in addition to its ongoing diamond production, it noted in the September statement.

The company’s shares rose 16% on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) following the announcement.

Source: Diamonds.net

De Beers signs 10 year sales deal for Botswana diamonds

Anglo American Plc unit De Beers and Botswana’s government signed a deal covering the main aspects of a new sales and mining agreement for their Debswana diamond venture in the African nation.

The pact covers a new 10-year sales deal for Debswana’s rough diamond production through to 2033, along with a 25-year extension to the Debswana mining licenses through to 2054, De Beers and the Botswana government said in a joint statement on Sunday.

The terms “provide further detail and clarity to the commercial and operational aspects of the agreement in principle between the two partners” announced on June 30, they said. Among them are stipulations for the apportionment of Debswana supply and other economic arrangements, they said, without giving further details.

Source: Mining.com

Western officials travel to India for long-awaited G7 ban on Russian diamonds

Western officials are expected to head to India this week to discuss the technical aspects of a coming G7 ban on Russian diamonds as they come closer to finalising a sanctions package that may kick in as early as January 1.

But sanctions experts have warned that negotiations may drag on past the expected deadline due to the complexity of enforcing a widely accepted mechanism to trace the origin of diamonds.

“If this mechanism is understandable and transparent enough from the beginning, then there are high chances that all G7 countries will sign off on it,” Yuliia Pavytska, who heads the sanctions team at the KSE Institute, a Kyiv School of Economics-affiliated think tank, told The National.

“If there is no agreement in the coming weeks, it will likely take a few more months to make it happen.”

The impact of a ban on the Russian economy would be relatively small but not insignificant.

Russia’s diamond exports account for about $4 billion – or about 1 per cent – of the country’s total exports, according to Ms Pavytska.

But with half of Russia’s exports comprising oil and gas, diamonds are one of the largest trade groups that have yet to be sanctioned.

“There’s been talk for months about a diamonds ban, and now we finally see that the G7 is ready to discuss it and adopt it,” she said.

Belgium has long resisted a ban on Russian diamonds due to their importance for its second-largest city, Antwerp, the largest diamond hub in the world.

But it has recently put forward a proposal that is garnering support among the G7, which may finalise its proposal in the coming weeks. This would be followed by an implementation of the ban at the EU level next year.

As discussions intensify, western officials are expected to travel later this week to India, the world’s diamond-polishing hub, for what EU authorities have described as a fact-finding mission organised by the Indian Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Speaking to Reuters last week, US officials said that he delegation would travel to Mumbai and Surat, a city where about 80 per cent of the world’s diamonds are polished.

Belgian officials will reportedly be part of the delegation.

Belgium’s proposal
Belgium is not a member of the G7 but is part of the EU, which is represented in the forum that also includes the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.

The US, the UK and Canada have already banned Russian diamond imports in various ways.

Belgium argues that an outright G7 ban would encourage circumvention, pointing to the fact that while imports of Russian diamonds to the EU have decreased by 95 per cent from pre-war levels, the number of diamonds being traded in Antwerp has not significantly changed.

These figures have fuelled suspicion that Russian diamonds are changing identity before entering western markets.

Experts such as Agiya Zagrebelska, who heads the sanctions direction at the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention, said that there has been an increase in purchases of Russian diamonds from companies based in major trade hubs including India and the UAE.

“What is being sold on western markets are Russian diamonds because it’s impossible that the diamonds traded by these companies come out of nowhere,” Ms Zagrebelska told The National.

The Belgian diamond industry has called for the creation of an improved system to track diamonds – a notoriously difficult process.

Rough diamonds are split before they are polished and then possibly mixed with other diamonds.

The proposal focuses on reinforcing traditional customs inspections with blockchain technology to create a ledger that is impossible to forge.

The aim is to cut Russian diamonds off from the G7 market, which represents more than 75 per cent of the diamond consumer market, and forcibly drive their price down.

“The ban on Russian diamonds will not only reduce the revenue Russia is extracting from the export of diamonds but will simultaneously increase the traceability of diamonds at a global level, which has been a long-standing EU policy ask,” an EU official said.

There are other proposals reportedly under discussion, but the diamond lobby has remained tight-lipped about them.

“We understand that it all depends on what trace and track system the G7 countries will choose,” said Ms Zagrebelska.

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre declined to comment when contacted by The National.

The US-based World Diamond Council did not answer a request for comment.

Source: thenationalnews

Alrosa Halts Sales as Diamond Glut Persists

Alrosa Halts Sales as Diamond Glut Persists

Alrosa has canceled its next two sales and urged caution from buyers and suppliers amid a steep downturn in the diamond market.

The Russian miner informed India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of the decision in the past few days, citing low demand. The move follows the GJEPC’s recent call for rough producers to act responsibly.

“Alrosa has decided to temporarily halt the allocation of rough diamonds in September and October 2023,” the company said in a note to the GJEPC, seen by Rapaport News. “We believe that this approach is going to have a stabilizing impact by strengthening the market’s supply-and-demand balance. This will aid the prevention of overstocking, especially with manufacturers closed for Diwali.”

Alrosa has continued to sell despite being under US sanctions since the Ukraine war began in February. The company’s revenue was broadly stable year on year at RUB 188.16 billion ($1.9 billion) in the first half of 2023.

Most of the rough goes to India, market insiders believe. That country’s diamond trade has suffered a serious crisis because of weak US and Chinese demand and competition from lab-grown stones. Inventories have piled up as the sales slump has outpaced manufacturers’ production cuts, leading to falling prices.

The GJEPC wrote to diamond miners earlier this month, asking them to be “responsible” when selling to prevent a worsening of the situation. In response, Alrosa said it “expresses equal concern and strives to reverse the existing trend of diminishing demand.”

The Russian company said it would welcome a similar position from other industry players, such as miners, cutters and retailers, “on the matter of rough-diamond purchases and sales” as a “reciprocal effort.”

The benefits of the miner’s decision should be visible in the market by the beginning of next year, it said in a separate statement Wednesday.

“Alrosa has always followed the practice of supporting market stability and leveling its volatility,” a spokesperson for the miner said. “Our solid and high-quality asset base and stable financial position allow us [to implement] such measures.”

By contrast, De Beers will continue to hold sights but take a “responsible approach” to sales, “just as we have previously when faced with challenging industry conditions,” a spokesperson for the Anglo American unit said. The company, which is holding its September sight this week, has already allowed customers to defer up to half of rough purchases for the rest of 2023.

“We will focus on additional supply flexibility as necessary to meet sightholders’ evolving requirements,” the De Beers spokesperson added.

The news comes amid growing expectations for a Group of Seven (G7) ban on Russian diamonds, with an announcement likely in two to three weeks, Reuters reported last Friday, citing Belgian officials. The World Diamond Council (WDC) is also facilitating a proposal for keeping Russian and non-Russian diamonds separate.

Source: rapaport.com