Diamonds – Page 48 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

Date set for Mugabe diamonds hearing

A Zimbabwe parliament committee has summoned former president Robert Mugabe to give evidence on Wednesday about diamond corruption alleged to have cost billions of dollars during his rule.

Mugabe, who was ousted from office in November after a brief military takeover, has not commented on whether he will appear before the committee.

A parliamentary notice for May 23 was released on Monday.

“Subject to confirmation, oral evidence from His Excellency, the former president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, comrade RG Mugabe, on diamond mining revenues,” it read.

Mugabe, 94, who is in frail health, was also called to give evidence last month but the meeting was postponed.

Lawmakers plan to question Mugabe over his 2016 claim that the country had lost $15 billion in revenue due to corruption and foreign exploitation in the diamond sector.

No one in Mugabe’s office was available to confirm whether he would appear.

The former president, whose own regime was accused of syphoning off diamond profits, has described his ousting as a coup.

He has not been seen in public since November, though he hosted a private birthday party in February at “Blue Roof” – the lavish mansion where he and his wife Grace, 52, have been living in apparent seclusion in recent months.

Mugabe was replaced by his former deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa, a veteran loyalist in the ruling ZANU-PF party who was backed by senior military officers.

Zimbabwe discovered alluvial diamonds in Chiadzwa, in the east of the country, over 10 years ago.

Rights groups have accused security forces of using brutal methods to control the scattered deposits.

The parliament committee, headed by independent MP Temba Mliswa, has already interviewed former ministers, police and intelligence chiefs on mining at Chiadzwa.

Zimbabwe is due to hold elections in July or August, the first since Mugabe was unseated, with the Zanu-PF widely predicted to retain power.

AFP

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Type of ice found trapped in a diamond new to science

Ice VII inclusions found within diamonds is evidence for aqueous fluid in deep in Earth’s mantle.

The inclusions a high pressure form of water called ice VII present in diamonds sourced from between 410 and 660 km depth, the part of the mantle known as the transition zone.

The transition zone is a region where the stable minerals have high water storage capacity.

The inclusions suggest that local aqueous pockets form at the transition zone boundary owing to the release of chemically bound water as rock cycles in and out of this region.

Ice VII is about one and a half times more dense than regular ice but unlike the other phases of ice ice VII remains fairly stable even as the pressure increases.

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.

Rough Trade Cautious at $455M De Beers Sale

Dealers reported a difficult but stable rough market as De Beers’ November sight closed with a value of $455 million — 4% lower than the same period a year ago.

The rough market improved slightly from the October sight, which was the smallest sale of the year as Indian manufacturing slowed for Diwali. However, sightholders still noted weak profitability on De Beers goods during November, with premiums on the secondary market close to zero.

Most boxes of diamonds from last week’s sight commanded prices on the dealer market that did not cover the costs of doing deals, explained Dudu Harari of diamond broker Bluedax in a report on the sight.

Petra Diamonds shares drop

More trouble for diamond miner Petra Diamonds yesterday after it warned it is heading into financial trouble with its lenders.

Petra has borrowed heavily to expand its operations in the country. The company is now likely to breach its banking covenants at the end of the year, because of the row with the government in Tanzania. As well as strikes at three of its mines in South Africa.

Petra diamonds is known for the size and quality of the diamonds produced at the famous Cullinan mine outside of Pretoria in South Africa.

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Classic car prices drop but diamonds and wine shine

Old Master paintings and classic cars have lost the luster, But the uber rich have seen their jewellery, fine wine and musical instruments jump in value again.

This according to to the Blue blooded UK bank Coutts’ passion index of the finest things. Now in its twelfth year.

Thanks to 16.4 percent rises in instrument, 11.6 percent in jewelry prices and a near 10 percent jump in wines. Also a rise in watch prices of 6.7 percent.

One of the biggest jumps is for coins where gains since 2005 hit 225 percent.

Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar ,Porsche and other collectable Classic cars whose prices have risen more than 332 percent since 2005, also went into decline.

Prices for fine art dropped between 4.3 and 7.9 percent last year. Post the financial crisis the Old Masters and 19th Century Art has been the worst performers. Down by more than 40 percent on a cost adjusted return basis.

Diamond Futures Exchange Launches In India

To help the Diamond industry limit losses when polished prices fluctuate. The Indian Commodity Exchange has launched the first diamond futures trading contract.

Diamond futures contracts work as price insurance, when fluctuations impact the value of inventories. With the futures trading traders agree on a price for a contract.

The new exchange platform gives investors a format similar to commodities exchanges such as Comex, Nymex and the London Metal Exchange.

Over 100 members and approximately 4,000 clients have registered with ICEX exchange.

The Indian government approved diamond futures trading in September 2016.

De Beers Raises Marketing Budget to USD $140M

De Beers marketing spend this years is more than $140 million, This is the biggest De Beers push in a decade.

The marketing will focus on increasing consumer demand for diamond jewellery in US, China and Indian markets.

The De Beers brands, Forevermark and De Beers Diamond Jewellers. Will receive the most funding, But Debeers will also increase its contributions to the Diamond Producers Association and India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Stephen Lussier, De Beers’ executive vice president of marketing and CEO of Forevermark. Said the consumer expenditure for diamond jewellery over the past five years collectively has been the highest on record. and this made the outlook positive.