Diamond Mining – Page 30 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

Surging Diamond Demand Helps Botswana Trader Post Record Sales

Botswana’s state-run diamond trader reported record revenue last year with sales surging almost five fold after U.S. imports recovered from a Covid-19 induced slowdown.

Okavango Diamond Company sold $963 million of rough diamonds last year, said Dennis Tlaang, a company spokesman. The revenue was the most since the company began operations in 2012, he said.

“The demand for natural rough diamonds remained strong throughout 2021 driven primarily by positive market sentiment in key markets such as the United States,” Tlaang said.

Sales may rise further this year after De Beers, the world’s biggest producer of the stones, pushed through one of its most aggressive diamond price increases in recent years. Okavango also got higher than normal prices in the sole auction it held this year, Tlaang said.

De Beers Implements Big Diamond Price Hike as Demand Runs Hot. A Buying Frenzy in Cheap and Tiny Diamonds Sends Prices Soaring. Diamond Sold for $12 Million in Cryptocurrency at Sotheby’s. “We believe this is a good indicator of the market dynamics of 2022, at least for the first half of the year,” he said. “The company will continue to drive customer participation by marketing its rough diamond assortment in key markets such as Antwerp and Dubai.”

Under a 2011 agreement between De Beers and the government of Botswana, Okavango purchases 25% of the nation’s annual production for independent marketing, while the balance is sold through the De Beers’ trading network.

Source: bloomberg

ALROSA Takes Steps to Offer the Market Additional Supplies of Rough Diamonds

In line with its approach of fostering long-term sustainable development of the diamond market, ALROSA gives its customers an opportunity to adjust their diamond purchase schedules under trading sessions.

The demand for rough diamonds in early 2022 as well as in the second half of 2021 was outstripping supply, as cutters were actively buying rough to restock and fulfill the orders placed by jewelers and retailers.

Given the primary importance of a balanced market and the need to meet the real-backed demand, ALROSA offers its long-term customers a new option to adjust supply schedules between trading sessions. As a result, holders of long-term contracts can buy rough diamonds from their allocations ahead of the schedule by shifting booked volumes to an earlier date.

“The first quarter of the year is traditionally a period of active rough diamond purchases, as cutters seek to stock up after a holiday season in retail. The high season of 2021 was one of the most successful ones in the entire history, as we see robust demand from our customers underpinned by real orders. By reaffirming its commitment to a prudent and balanced policy aimed at sustainable progressive growth of the industry, ALROSA offers its customers a new option of adjusting diamond purchase schedules within their allocations by requesting the part of the booked rough diamond volumes to be moved to an earlier date. We believe that this innovation, together with the Gokhran auction slated for late February 2022, will speed up progress in addressing current market deficit. With the same goal in mind, we will hold an additional tender between trading sessions. We will offer the rough diamonds highly sought-after by cutters as soon as these goods leave the work-in-progress,” said Evgeny Agureev.

Long-term contracts for a 3-year period with major jewelry holdings, cutters, traders, and consumers of industrial diamonds make up the core of ALROSA’s sales system and traditionally account for the largest part of the company’s turnover. ALROSA makes special efforts to guarantee responsible business practices across the diamond production chain.

Source: instoremag

Rough Shortages Could Last 10 Years, Bain Says

The current shortfall in rough production will likely continue for up to a decade, while both demand and prices will remain strong, according to Bain & Company.

Output fell 20% to 111 million carats in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic forced companies to shut deposits, Bain said Monday in “The Global Diamond Industry 2021-22,” the latest edition of its annual report on the sector. Production increased 4.5% to 116 million carats in 2021, when mines reopened. However, solid demand for diamond jewelry depleted resources, as did the closure of Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Australia, which accounted for 11 million carats a year.

“Demand was so strong, production levels had to be supplemented by inventory,” Bain partner Olya Linde told Rapaport News. “We have not seen such strong demand for a long time. Actually, I have not seen such a big boom in all my time in the industry. Going forward, it’s not that easy to just add production. So, while demand will continue to remain strong, the ability for players to increase production in the short term is very limited.”

Miners’ “technical” inventories — goods that have been extracted but are not yet ready for sale — fell to an all-time low of 29 million carats in 2021, Linde claimed.

Over the next five years, rough output is expected to grow between 1% and 2% annually, reaching just over 122 million carats by the end of 2022 — still 10% to 15% below pre-pandemic levels.

Rising jewelry demand

In 2021, demand for diamond jewelry rose 29% globally and 38% in the US, well above pre-pandemic figures. China, the second-largest market, showed similar growth, Linde noted.

“At the end of the consumer holiday season and coming into the new year, there is still a lot of interest and demand,” she explained. “Even in 2022, we can expect that demand will continue, probably not at the same level of recovery, but it will definitely be robust enough. Although we don’t have a crystal ball, and don’t know how prices will behave for sure, given that supply is limited, it sets a foundation to support very healthy price growth across categories.”

Lack of new supply

The dearth of new mines coming online as others go offline or approach their end of life is also contributing to the gloomy production forecast. While exploration is underway in Botswana, Angola, Australia and Canada, the only project that will significantly add to output in the near term is the Luaxe mine in Angola, Linde said.

“We do not expect production to recover to 139 million carats [seen in 2019] in the next five years, for sure, and even not in the next 10 years, honestly, unless there will be a major unexpected discovery that could be brought up to production fairly quickly,” she noted. “We have to remember not only do we have a very limited number of new projects, but existing mines also have declining production levels.”

Filling the hole

While availability will decrease across most categories, it is unlikely lab-grown diamonds will cover the natural-diamond shortfall, as they are doing well in their own, separate category, Linde said.

Growth in synthetics over the past year was likely supported by both a decrease in prices, as well as higher transaction volumes, she explained.

“I don’t believe that one category is taking market share away from the other,” she added. “If you look at last year, if the market is operating purely on substitution, you would be hard pressed to really say where all this demand is coming from. In the US, it far outgrew pre-pandemic levels. What that suggests to me is that there are additional consumers that are coming to make lab-grown diamond purchases that we have not seen before in the diamond sector.”

Source: Diamonds.net

Debswana annual diamond sales jump 64%

*Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world by value, is Debswana’s flagship mine, contributing 60% to 70% of the company’s total revenue.*

Sales of rough diamonds by Debswana Diamond Company jumped 64% in 2021, statistics released by the Bank of Botswana showed on Monday, driven by the reopening of key global consumer markets.

The total value of Debswana’s diamond exports stood at $3.466 billion in 2021 compared with $2.120 billion in 2020, the central bank data showed.

Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American unit De Beers and Botswana’s government, sells 75% of its output to De Beers with the balance taken up by the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company.

Debswana sales fell by 30% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit demand while global travel restrictions impacted trading. Since mid-2020 De Beers has shifted some of its rough diamond viewings to international diamond centres such as Antwerp to cater for customers unable to travel to Gaborone.

“Demand for rough diamonds remained robust, with positive midstream sentiment and strong demand for diamond jewellery continuing over the holiday period, particularly in the key U.S. consumer market,” Anglo American said in a production update last Thursday.

Debswana accounts for almost all Botswana’s diamond exports, with Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe mine being the only other operating diamond mine in the country.

Botswana gets about 30% of its revenues and 70% of its foreign exchange earnings from diamonds. The southern African country expects its economy to have grown by 9.7% in 2021, after an 8.5% contraction in 2020.

Debswana’s production increased by 35% to 22.326 million carats in 2021 from 16.559 million carats in 2020, mostly due to higher-grade ore being treated at its flagship Jwaneng mine, Anglo American said.

Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds and a competitor of De Beers, reported revenue jumped by 49% to $4.2 billion last year as demand exceeded supply.

Source: mining.com

Victims “Invested $1m in Fake Diamond Mine”

Investors were duped into handing over more than $1m to a man who claimed to own a diamond mine, say police in Australia.

He allegedly claimed to be the owner of a non-existent mine in Sierra Leone and offered his victims the opportunity to invest.

Once they paid an initial sum, he allegedly asked for equipment and various gifts for his employees – which he then sold.

One victim reportedly paid $730,000. Two others are understood to have “invested” at least $73,000 each.

A 42-year-old man from the South East Suburbs, Melbourne, has been charged with 150 deception related offences including obtaining property by deception between September 2017 to October 2021.

He’s been bailed to appear before the Melbourne Committal Court in February 2022.

Detective senior sergeant Jason Venturoni, of Victoria police, said: “Criminals involved in the deception of others are often convincing and take advantage of people’s trust to exploit others for their own financial gain.”

Source: IDEX

De Beers Prices Up 14% Since Start of Year

De Beers’ rough prices spiked in the first half of 2021 as supply shortages coincided with buoyant diamond demand at the trade and retail levels.

The miner’s price index rose 14% during the six months, reflecting “tightness in inventories across the diamond value chain, as well as positive consumer demand for polished diamonds,” parent company Anglo American said Tuesday.

De Beers implemented price increases at its January, February and June sights, with an emphasis on the larger categories of rough. This brought prices back to pre-pandemic levels: The index for the first half was flat versus the same period of 2020, the company reported.

Sales volume at De Beers rose to 7.3 million carats in the second quarter from just 300,000 carats a year earlier during the peak of the coronavirus crisis. The average sales price advanced 13% to $135 per carat as demand shifted to higher-value rough.

“Consumer demand for polished diamonds continued to recover, leading to strong demand for rough diamonds from midstream cutting and polishing centers, despite the impact on capacity from the severe Covid-19 wave in India during April and May,” the miner said.

Meanwhile, production more than doubled to 8.2 million carats for the quarter versus 3.5 million carats last year, reflecting planned increases to meet the stronger rough demand, as well as the sharp impact of lockdowns in southern Africa in 2020.

With half of 2021 now over, De Beers was able to give a more specific production outlook for the full year, predicting output of 32 million to 33 million carats — compared with a previous plan of 32 million to 34 million carats. The company has already reduced its guidance for the year twice because of operational issues at mines.

“Most of the impact on production for the year as a whole is a result of the challenges we experienced earlier in the year, particularly with excessive rainfall in southern Africa, the Covid-19-related shutdown in Canada, and power supply disruptions in Botswana,” a De Beers spokesperson commented. “We still expect production in the second half of the year to be significantly above the 15.4 million carats produced in the first half of the year, however, and this will take us to the narrower guided range.”

In the second quarter, output in Botswana more than tripled to 5.7 million carats from 1.8 million carats a year before. Production in Namibia slipped 6% to 338,000 carats, as one of the company’s mining vessels underwent planned maintenance and another remained demobilized.

Output in South Africa more than doubled to 1.3 million carats from 555,000 because the company processed higher-grade ore at the Venetia mine. Canada’s production climbed 14% to 899,000 carats, mainly reflecting the comparison with last year’s slowdown.

Source: Diamonds.net

Botswana second huge diamond unearthed in a month

An exceptionally large and white 1,174 carat diamond stone has been unearthed in Botswana, trumping another huge precious stone that was found in the African country in June.

The latest find, which fills the palm of a large hand, was also discovered in June, on the 12th. It was found by the Canadian Diamond firm Lucara and presented to the country’s cabinet in Gaborone on Wednesday.

“This is history in the making, for us and Botswana as well,” said the company’s managing director, Naseem Lahri, adding that the diamond was in third position among the world’s largest gemstones.

On 1 June the Botswanan diamond firm Debswana said it had recovered what was then the “third largest” stone in the world, weighing in at 1,098 carats.

Botswana leads the world for the largest precious stones, accounting for six in the top 10 list. The country is Africa’s leading diamond producer.

The biggest diamond ever discovered anywhere was the 3,106 carat Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905. Parts of that diamond adorn the British crown jewels.

Mokgweetsi Masisi, the president of Botswana, on Wednesday welcomed the “riveting moment” and the frequency of diamond discoveries in his country.

Source: theguardian

Lucara Recovers 1,174 Carat Diamond from the Karowe Mine in Botswana

Lucara Diamond Corp. is pleased to announce the recovery of a 1,174.76 carat diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana.

The diamond, measuring 77x55x33mm, is described as a clivage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material, and was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe.

The 1,174 carat diamond represents the third +1,000 carat diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015 including the 1,758 carat Sewelô and 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona.

The 1,174.76 carat diamond was recovered in the Mega Diamond Recovery XRT circuit. On the same production day, several other diamonds of similar appearance (471 carat, 218 carat, 159 carat) were recovered at the main XRT circuit, indicating the 1,174 diamond was part of a larger diamond with an estimated weight of > 2000 carats.

The MDR is positioned after the primary crusher, ahead of the autogenous mill, and is the first opportunity for diamond recovery within the circuit.

Lucara Secures $220M in Financing to Take Mine Underground

Lucara Diamond Corp. said it has secured $220 million in financing to help take the Karowe Mine in Botswana underground and extend its life by about 20 years.

Karowe is responsible for producing some of the most significant diamonds recovered in recent years, including the 1,109-carat “Lesedi La Rona,” which Graff bought for $53 million, and a 1,758-carat diamond that Louis Vuitton is turning into jewelry.

The credit-approved senior debt facilities include two tranches: $170 million to go toward the development of the underground mine and $50 million to support the ongoing operation of the open pit.

The underground expansion has an estimated capital cost of $514 million and is expected to take five years. The balance of development capital for the project is expected to come from cash flow from the mine’s ongoing open-pit operations.

In a statement announcing the financing, Lucara President and CEO Eira Thomas called securing the financing “an important achievement for Lucara and a strong endorsement of our underground expansion plans.”
She said the loans will supplement the cash flow from the open-pit portion of Karowe for the next five years and will extend the life of the mine from 2025 to at least 2040.

The five lenders on the $220 million financing facility for Lucara are: ING Bank N.V., Natixis, the London branch of Societe Generale, Africa Finance Corp., and Afreximbank. Thomas described them as having “significant mining and metals track records and experience in Africa.”

Closing on the facilities is subject to completion of definitive documentation and the satisfaction of certain terms and conditions, including Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.

The target closing date for the financing package is mid-2021, with financing expected to be in place by the second half of the year.

Lucara made the financing announcement the day before it released its first-quarter 2021 results.

Revenues totaled $53.1 million, or $579 per carat sold, for the miner in Q1. Net income was $3.4 million.

That is a significant improvement over Q1 2020, when the onset of the pandemic limited sales to $34.1 million and caused Lucara to record a loss of $3.2 million.

First-quarter 2021 results also are up when compared with 2019, when Lucara reported revenues of $48.7 million, or $512 per carat sold. Net income for the latter, however, was higher at $7.4 million.

The company said overall, the diamond market started 2021 in its healthiest position in five years following strong holiday seasons in the United States and China, and careful rough supply management by producers, which has helped to recalibrate polished inventories.

Source: nationaljeweler

Gem Diamonds ramps up production in Lesotho

Gem Diamonds announced Thursday that the company produced 29,010 carats at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, which is 11% more than in Q1 2020 – 26,110 carats.

The company’s revenue for the period was US$43.9 million Q1 2020 – US$47.3 million and an average price achieved for the period was US$1,630 per carat Q1 2020 – US$1,615 per carat.

The company said that 5 diamonds sold for more than US$1.0 million each, generating revenue of US$12.4 million during the period.

The group ended the period with US$26.9 million of cash on hand excluding US$8.2 million of the March tender proceeds received after the period end. During the period, Letšeng paid the remaining dividend of US$10.0 million which was declared in 2020.

CEO Clifford Elphick commented, “It is pleasing to see that carat production during the period was up some 11% on the same period in 2020 and that the average price of US$1,630 per carat was also slightly up on Q1 2020. Although the production from the mining mix was not as impressive as the second half of 2020, with fewer large diamonds recovered due to the areas accessed under the mining plan, prices achieved on a like for like basis remained strong for Letšeng’s high value diamond production.”

The company said it anticipates that the mining mix should improve over the coming months as the richer parts of the Satellite pit are accessed in accordance with the mine plan.

Gem Diamonds is a leading global diamond producer of large high value diamonds. The company owns 70% of the Letšeng mine in Lesotho and is currently in the process of selling its 100% share of the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana. The Letšeng mine is famous for the production of large, exceptional white diamonds, making it the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.

Source: Vladimir Basov Kitco