Diamonds – Page 69

Rio Tinto Output Falls Amid Lower Grades

Lower mining grades and reduced ore availability contributed to a drop in Rio Tinto’s third-quarter diamond production, the company reported Wednesday.

Output at its wholly owned Argyle mine in Australia fell 7% year on year, yielding 3.6 million carats in the three-month period ending September 30. Production was hampered by lower grades, despite stronger mining and processing rates, Rio Tinto said.

Rio Tinto’s share of production at the Diavik mine in Canada also shrank 7% to 994,000 carats for the same period due to lower ore availability both underground and at the A21 extension pipe it opened in August last year. The company owns 60% of the deposit, with Dominion Diamond Mines holding the remainder.

Rio Tinto’s total diamond production, including its share of Diavik goods, dropped 7% to 4.5 million carats.

For the first nine months of the year, the miner produced 12.8 million carats, compared to 14.1 million in the same period of 2018. Its 2019 forecast remains unchanged at 15 million to 17 million carats, down from 18.4 million carats last year.

Gold, diamonds from 2 African nations caught in U.S. forced-labor probe

Products from Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo are among those from five nations to be seized by the United States at its borders because they are believed linked to forced-labor violations.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Tuesday it initiated its investigation following complaints from the public and other sources. The allegations led to the issue of a Withhold Release Order for the five products, which include gold from artisanal small mines in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and diamonds from the Marange Diamond Fields in Zimbabwe. The Marange site has a long history of alleged human rights abuses, from a 2008 massacre of civilians to 2018, when new reports of forced labor and other rights violations emerged.

“A major part of CBP’s mission is facilitating legitimate trade and travel,” said Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan. “CBP’s issuing of these five withhold release orders shows that if we suspect a product is made using forced labor, we’ll take that product off U.S. shelves.”

Because it is illegal to import goods linked to forced labor into the U.S., the CBP has the authority to order their detention but also their release. “Importers have the opportunity to either re-export the detained shipments at any time or to submit information to CBP demonstrating that the goods are not in violation,” the agency said.

Also listed were specific garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia and bone-black char from Brazil.

Source: africatimes

Synova Launches Automated Diamond Cutter

A technology provider part-owned by De Beers has unveiled an automated cutting machine that, it claims, will significantly speed up diamond manufacturing and reduce costs.

Synova’s DaVinci system is the market’s first automated instrument that can produce all 57 facets of a round brilliant diamond in one process, the Swiss company said Thursday. The user only needs to perform one final polishing stage to finish the stone.

“Several cost, skill and labor intensive steps in the polishing phase, such as crown and pavilion blocking, girdle bruting or recurrent quality checks, become redundant,” noted Bernold Richerzhagen, Synova’s founder and CEO.

The machine, currently intended for rough stones from 0.50 to 10 carats, gives manufacturers increased flexibility to adapt their production levels to business needs, such as seasonal demand, Synova explained.

It also gives better symmetry and a higher and more predictable polished yield, and uses water jet technology to reduce the risk of diamond cracking, the company asserted. It’s based on its existing DCS 50 cutting machine.

De Beers bought a 33% stake in Synova in 2015, pledging to work with the company to develop a fully automated cutting and shaping solution. The miner has made diamonds available for some of the machine testing.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucara finds blue and pink diamonds at Botswana mine

Canada’s Lucara Diamond continues to find gem quality, coloured diamonds at its Karowe mine, in Botswana, which in April yielded the 1,758 carat Sewelô meaning “rare find” diamond, the largest ever recovered in the African country.

The Vancouver based miner has now recovered a 9.74 carat blue and a 4.13 carat pink diamond from direct milling of the South Lobe, the area that yielded the famous 1,111 carat “Lesedi La Rona” in 2015.

The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s display of a 123 carat gem quality, top white, Type II diamond, found at the same section of the mine.

It also follows the recent sale of a 2.24 carat blue for $347,222 per carat.

Karowe, which began commercial operations in 2012, has this year yielded 22 diamonds larger than 100 carats, eight of them exceeding 200 carats.

Since the start of the year, the miner has sold 19 diamonds each with an individual price in excess of $1 million at its quarterly tender sales. This includes seven diamonds that fetched more than $2 million each, and one diamond that carried a final price tag of over $8 million.

“Lucara is extremely pleased with the recovery of these rare, sizeable, fancy coloured diamonds, which have the potential to contribute meaningful value to our regular production of large, high-value type IIa diamonds,” chief executive, Eira Thomas, said in the statement.

The precious rocks will be put up for sale in December, during the company’s fourth quarter tender.

Lucara, which has focused efforts on the prolific Botswana mine this year, is close to completing a feasibility study into potential underground production and life of mine expansion at Karowe.

Source: mining.com

De Beers Finds Buyer for Namibia Mine

De Beers has sold the Elizabeth Bay mine for $8.2 million USD, a year after it ceased operations at the deposit.

The miner chose Lewcor Group, a 100% Namibian owned consortium, following an extensive search for a new owner that would be able to operate the mine — part of its Namdeb joint venture with the government of Namibia in a sustainable way, and would also retain De Beers’ employees and contribute economic value to Namibia, it said last week. However, the amount of the transaction could increase to $12.4 million USD, as Namdeb will earn a share of revenue from the sale of diamonds recovered from certain marine mining areas.

“Throughout this process, our objective has been to create the best possible circumstances for reopening the operations, recreating jobs and growing empowered participation in Namibia’s diamond industry,” said Chris Nghaamwa, chairman of Namdeb. “A rigorous, independently advised process enabled Namdeb to select a company with not only the right mining and financial credentials, but also a commitment to meet future social and environmental obligations.”

De Beers ceased operations at the site in September 2018. Although the mine still contains a viable supply of diamonds, output failed to meet the company’s needs and it could no longer run the deposit economically, it said.

Source: diamonds.net

Zimbabwe Holds Diamond Auction for 316,000 Carats

Zimbabwe’s state owned Minerals Marketing Corporation opened a 316,000 carat diamond auction, which will close at the end of the week an official said.

“This is the third auction we have conducted this year as there were some administrative issues which were taking place within the organization,” MMCZ’s General Manager Tongai Muzenda said by phone on Wednesday. The last auction was held in July.

The auction, which began on Sept. 9 and will close on Sept. 13, has attracted buying interest from Belgium, Dubai, India, Israel and South Africa, but Muzenda declined to name the companies bidding, citing confidentiality.

Zimbabwe expects to produce 4.1 million carats of diamonds this year, up from 2.8 carats in 2018. At the peak of production in 2012, the southern African country’s output was 12 million carats.

In Madhya Pradesh, labourer digs up 2 diamonds in one week

A labourer in Bundelkhand region turned second time lucky when he got another diamond within a week in a piece of land he took on lease from the district administration in Panna district. The value of the diamond is estimated at about Rs 20 lakh, a mineral resources department official said.

The lessee, Kishor Kushwaha, a resident of Sarkoha village got the diamond of 5.69 carat in a field in the area in Panna district. He deposited it with the mineral resources department office on Saturday, said Panna diamond office authority Anupam Singh.

Panna district, 413 km north east of Bhopal in Bundelkhand region, has the only diamond producing mine in the country, which is under operation, as per the department officials.

Panna diamond office authority Anupam Singh said, “The diamond that the lessee has found may get him about Rs 20 lakh on its auction. Earlier, the same person got a diamond of 4.4 carat about a week back, which was, however, of better quality and was valued about at Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh. The lessee was assisted by three others in his work.”

The labourer got the piece of land on lease on March 1, 2019 and the lease period will expire on December 31, 2019. “It rarely happens when a person gets another diamond twice within a week or so,” he said.

Talking to the media Kishor said, “I am extremely happy that Mother Earth blessed me with this gift of diamonds. I make both ends meet by doing labour work. I will share whatever money I get with my partners Ajay Singh, Mahadev Kushwaha, Purshotam Lal and Vimal who also put in hard labour.”

He said he wanted to spend the money on education of his children.

Source: hindustantimes

Botswana Diamonds Shares Jump On Licence Extension

Shares in Botswana Diamonds PLC jumped Thursday after it extended two “strategic” diamond licences for further two years, as it considered forming a joint venture to develop the projects.

Shares in Botswana Diamonds were 9.9% higher at 0.54 pence in London on Thursday.

Botswana Diamonds – through its wholly-owned Sunland Minerals Ltd subsidiary – extended the Prospecting Licences PL232 and PL235 in Botswana to the end of September 2021.

The firm explained the “key” licences were “strategically located” in the centre of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, covering 500 square kilometres. Botswana Diamonds has already identified “prospective drill ready targets” following “intensive” work at the sites.

Botswana Diamonds said it was “already in extended discussions” with a “major” diamond producer regarding the formation of a joint venture for the next phase of the work on the licences.

Source: morningstar

ALROSA SELLS $2.2 MILLION OF POLISHED AT ISRAEL DIAMOND EXCHANGE

Alrosa sold 14 polished diamonds weighing a total of 108 carats, and 48 fancy colored polished diamonds weighing 131.6 carats in total.

Companies from Israel, the US, Belgium, India, Hong Kong and Russia participated in the tender. The next polished tender in Israel is scheduled for this fall.

Pavel Vinikhin, Director of the DIAMONDS ALROSA cutting division, commented: “There is a continued interest in large polished diamonds over 3 carats in the market. Our assortment mostly consists of such stones.

In Israel, we presented polished diamonds of different colors and cuts. Despite the relatively weak market, the auction went well, and we are pleased with the results”.

Rare Golconda Diamonds

The Nizam of Hyderabad’s diamond encrusted ceremonial sword and Shah Jahan’s jade hilted dagger are some of the items being put up for auction.

Several precious artefacts of the Nizam era and diamonds mined from Golconda during the Qutb Shahi period will be put up for auction at global auction house Christie’s at New York on June 19. The diamonds, better known as the Golconda Diamonds, are flawless precious stones expected to fetch a whopping amount of money for the auctioneers.

The event by the 253-year-old auction house is titled ‘Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence’. According to reports, several precious Golconda diamonds are being put up for auction along with the Nizam of Hyderabad’s diamond encrusted ceremonial sword set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

Among these, one of the most precious stones is the 10.46 carat Pink Golconda diamond. An internally flawless stone, the value of the diamond is estimated to be between $1.5 – $2 million. The diamond was unearthed during the Qutb Shahi era from the banks of river Krishna, 200 km southeast of Golconda.

Source: thenewsminute