Rough Diamonds – Page 40 – The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)

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.

Lucara Sells Two Huge Diamonds at $32M Tender

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.

Lucapa gets another $2 million from Lulo diamonds sale

Lucapa Diamonds said it had made USD $2 million after selling rough diamonds recovered at its prolific Lulo mine in Angola.

Sale has taken gross sales proceeds from the Angola based mine so far this year to $15.9 million.

Empresa Nacional de Diamantes and Rosas & Petalas, Lucapa all partners in th emine have sold 1,782 carats at an average price of $1,150 per carat.

The mine is located 150km from Alrosa’s Catoca mine the world’s fourth largest diamond mine, hosts type 2a diamonds which account for less than 1% of global supply.

Angola is now the world’s forth largest diamond producer by value and sixth by volume.

Botswana Diamonds picks up high potential kimberlite pipe in South Africa

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

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

Lucara Diamond Corp. Finds 327-Carat Top White Gem At Karowe Mine

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 to Sell Diamonds from Artisanal Miners

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

Third largest diamond ever for Lucara Diamonds

Karowe diamond mine located in Botswana has recovered a 472 carat, top light brown gem diamond.

The Rough Diamond will be sold with other exceptional stones recovered this year as part of the first large stone tender in 2018.

In 2018 The Karowe mine will focus on the high value south lobe area which consistently delivers, large high quality diamonds in excess of 10 carats in size.

Diamond Miner Gem Diamonds Finding More Huge Stones

Gem Diamonds has recovered another 100 carat plus rough diamond this year.

The recovery of the D colour type IIa stone shortly after the recovery of a 910 carat D colour IIa rough diamond from Letšeng last week.

Gem Diamonds began extracting ore from a higher grade part of Letšeng last year, resulting in the increase of large stones.

Gem Diamonds Letseng mine is located in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.

Rough Demand Stable at $450M De Beers Sight

De Beers South Africa mining staff Venetia

De Beers reported steady demand for rough diamonds at its December sight as sales showed an increase over the equivalent period last year.

The miner sold $450 million worth of rough in its final sales cycle of the year, including last week’s sight in Gaborone and its auctions, it reported Tuesday. Provisional proceeds rose 6.6% compared with actual sales for the same period last year, though they slipped 3.4% from November sales.