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Gem Diamonds has unearthed a 100.50-carat diamond from its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, it said Friday.
The white, type IIa stone is the 11th over 100 carats the miner has recovered from the asset so far this year.
Gem Diamonds owns 70% of the Letšeng mine, with the state holding the remaining shares. The company also owns the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana, which it plans to sell.
Source: diamonds.net
Mountain Province Diamonds sold the 95 carat rough diamond but declined to release the sale price.
Zimnisky estimates the 95 carat diamond value at US $2.5 to $3 million dollars. He based this estimate on the selling prices for similar diamonds.
The rough diamond sold for three times the previous highest price it’s ever gotten for a single gem.
The 95 carat diamond was recovered at the Gahcho Kue mine in May, which is located 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.
Lucara Diamonds have sold two exceptional large rough diamonds at the $32.5 million tender.
The tender included a 327 carat rough diamond that sold for over $10 million USD.
Lucara said the 10 stones ranging from 40.4 carats to a 472.37 carat rough stone a combined 1,453.06 carats, sold for an average price of $22,356 per carat.
The top seller was the 327.48 carat white diamond, which earned $30,900 per carat total $10.1 million.
Another exceptional size 472.37 carat light brown stone also sold but the miner has not publish its price.
Botswana Diamonds has been awarded the priority 2.5 ha Mooikloof kimberlite pipe concession. Using recently developed exploration techniques it will re-assess this high potential pipe.
The award of the Mooikloof Prospecting Licence is an important development for Botswana Diamonds.
Mooikloof was last prospected in 1986. The adjacent Oaks mine was owned and successfully operated by De Beers. The Oaks mine had a grade of 53 cpht at a value of $156 per carat.
The large flagship Venetia mine, operated by De Beers, is close by and in the same general geology.
Based on Botswana Diamond’s experience elsewhere, it suspects that past explorers may have systematically under estimated the kimberlite pipe size, grade and diamond quality of the Mooikloof kimberlite.
It will deploy state of the art exploration techniques to reassess the Mooikloof kimberlite, and maybe open another by passed kimberlite pipe development.
Botswana Diamonds has now received the Technical Economic Evaluation Report on the Thorny River Project.
The deposit is between 1.2 and 2 Mt, the grade is between 46 and 74 cpht and carat values between US$120 and $220 per carat.
The Technical Economic Evaluation Report indicated positive economics could potentially be achieved using the top end of the grade and value ranges, assuming additional kimberlite volume of similar grade and value can be defined with further exploration.
While not a Scoping Study as Botswana Diamonds had previously envisaged in the announcements dated 15 February 2018 and 21 March 2018, the Technical Economic Evaluation Report has provided the company’s directors with sufficient information to conclude that the Thorny River Project requires further investigation.
Consequently, the directors are considering the company’s various technical and commercial options, which will be studied simultaneously with ongoing exploration.
Drilling at Ontevreden confirmed the existence of a kimberlite pipe, but showed the pipe to be smaller than the previously indicated geophysical anomaly.
Given Botswana Diamond’s attractive priorities elsewhere, it now proposes no further work on Ontevreden.
“Significant progress has been made on our joint venture projects in South Africa,” comments Botswana Diamonds chairman, John Teeling.
“Analysis shows that a mine on the Thorny River deposit could be profitable assuming positive results from additional exploration. Now we must refine the volume, grade and value estimates while working on the mining model.
“But modern mineral exploration technology is not a magic bullet. Modern geophysics indicated a 0.7 ha pipe at Ontevreden. Our drilling confirmed a smaller pipe, which is not currently commercial”.
Source: miningreview
Zimbabwe’s rough diamond production will more than triple to 11 million carats in 2025, according to the nation’s state-owned mining operation.
Output will grow at an average of 21% per year from 3 million carats in 2018, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) told Rapaport News Monday.
“This growth is anchored on investment of around $400 million across the entire diamond value chain in the next five years,” the spokesperson said.
In addition, the ZCDC named Killiam Ukama, an engineer, as the chairman of the ZCDC’s new board.
The ZCDC produced 1.8 million carats in 2017 from the controversial Marange diamond fields, where security forces killed more than 200 illegal workers in 2008. The company suspended sales for nine months last year as it carried out a restructuring, and resumed tenders in the first quarter of this year.
Source: diamonds.net
Lucara Diamond Corporation has recovered a 327 carat top colour gem diamond from its one hundred percent owned Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.
Eight rough diamonds larger than 100 carats have now been recovered at Karowe since the beginning of the year, including a 472 carat rough diamond announced earlier this month.
De Beers announced plans to work with artisanal miners in Sierra Leone to ensure their diamonds are ethically sourced and sold at a fair price on its auction platform.
The company has partnered with the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) on the project, known as GemFair, which is set to launch a pre-pilot phase this month. GemFair will provide tracking technology to artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM), aiming to create a secure and transparent route to market for their diamonds, De Beers said in a statement last week.
“The ASM sector represents a critical income source for many poverty-affected communities,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. “However, due to parts of the sector being largely informal and unregulated, it lacks access to established international markets and the ability to derive fair value for participants.”
De Beers hopes the new project will help grow acceptance and prospects for artisanal miners, in addition to creating a new supply source for the company, Cleaver added.
Miners who want to participate in the program need to receive certification from the DDI as well as from GemFair. Participants will then be given a diamond “toolkit,” which includes technology enabling them to digitally track all stones throughout the supply chain.
Once the initiative is operational, GemFair will begin buying stones from participating miners, which will then be sold via De Beers’ Auction Sales channel.
De Beers has not set a date for the pilot’s completion, but hopes to make the first purchase later this year.
Source: Diamonds.net
Russia’s diamond miner Alrosa said on Tuesday that its sales of rough and polished diamonds totaled $559.5 million in March.
There was a slight seasonal cooling off in demand in March,” Alrosa Deputy CEO Yury Okoemov said, according to a company statement.
Alrosa’s total diamond sales in the first quarter 2018 amounted to $1.606 billion, the company said.
Gem Diamonds recovered the 910 carat rough diamond in January.
The world’s fifth biggest gem quality diamond ever found has sold for $40 million , the company that found the massive rough diamond reported.
Gem Diamonds mined the D colourType IIa rough diamond at its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho.
The Lesotho Legend was purchased by an anonymous buyer in Antwerp, the company said.
Prior to “The Lesotho Legend,” the largest rough diamond recovered at Letšeng was a 603 carat named Lesotho Promise.