Diamonds – Page 53 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

STORNOWAY DIAMONDS MISSES 2018 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

Canadian diamond miner Stornoway Diamonds has produced 1.32 million carats in the 2018 financial year, missing its guidance of “at least 1.35 million carats” for the year, Mining Weekly reports.

President and CEO Patrick Godin said that 2018 was a “challenging year” for the company, as the ramp-up of underground production of the Renard 2 underground mine was “impacted by delays in equipment deliveries, a competitive labour market and the presence of more-than-expected low-grade mineralisation on the northern margin of the Renard 2 orebody”. However, the company’s third and fourth quarter production results “demonstrated significant improvements in grade and carat recoveries”. For 2019, Stornoway expects to produce between 1.8 million and 2.10 million carats.

As for sales, in 2018 Stornoway sold 1.04 million carats for gross proceeds of C$141 million ($106,362,645). In the fourth quarter, sales amounted to 253,929 carats, netting C$31 million (23,384,695).

Souce: israelidiamond

Indian jewellers set dazzling record with ring containing 6,690 diamonds

Two jewellers from India have broken the record of Most diamonds set in one ring, by setting a staggering 6,690 diamonds into an 18 karat rose gold structure, shaped like a lotus flower.

Vishal Agarwal and Khushbu Agarwal, both based in Surat, Gujarat, constructed the ring using a base component and 48 individual diamond encrusted petals.

The lotus ring weighs more than a golf ball, with a total weight of just over 58 grams.

It took six months to design and craft the intricate ring, which has been valued at $4,116,787 USD.

Vishal created the design for the ring, and Khushbu, who owns Hanumant Diamonds, funded and provided the resources for the ambitious project.

The ring was manufactured by Hanumant Diamonds artisans, based in Mahidarpura, Surat.

The lotus ring took the record from Savio Jewellery’s Peacock Ring which earned the record in 2015, with 3,827 cut diamonds.

The idea for Vishal and Khushbu’s creation came from them wanting to raise awareness about importance of water conservation.

They decided to use their work to generate awareness and settled on a lotus flower design because it is the national flower of India, and because it depicts “the beauty growing in the water-world”.

De Beers rough diamond sight grows to $575m

Anglo American’s De Beers the world’s largest rough diamond producer by value, sold $575 million worth of rough diamonds at the fifth sight of this year.

The value is a 6% increase from the $541m sight in the same period last year and 3.7% higher than the $554m sight last month.

De Beers has increased efforts in recent months to find a way to verify the source of diamonds and ensure they are not from conflict area where rough diamonds may have been used to finance violence.

Last month De beers announced it would start selling jewellery made with laboratory grown diamonds.

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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