Archive | Diamond Mining

Attawapiskat kicks dirt on De Beers’ Victor Mine landfill plans – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 7, 2021)

April 7, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Attawapiskat First Nation accuses former Ontario diamond miner De Beers Group of disposing demolition waste from its decommissioned Victor Mine in a “vulnerable” wetland environment of cultural significance.

The leadership of the James Bay coastal community calls the company’s provincial application to build a landfill “suspect” at the remote location 500 kilometres north of Timmins.

The First Nation said De Beers has applied for 97,000 cubic metres of landfill volume, just below a 100,000-cubic-metre threshold, which would trigger a comprehensive environmental assessment under Ontario law. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: Attawapiskat First Nation Says to DeBeers’ Owners Anglo American and Botswana to Stop Mine Landfill: No Juukan Gorge in Our Traditional Territory! (Attawapiskat First Nation – April 6, 2021)

April 6, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Diamond Mining, Ontario Mining

ATTAWAPISKAT FIRST NATION, ON, April 6, 2021 /CNW/ – De Beers Group (De Beers), a global diamond miner which is 85% owned by mining giant Anglo American and 15% owned by the Republic of Botswana, is seeking Ontario Government approval for a new mining landfill to be built and filled up with mine demolition waste at the Victor Diamond Mine Site, located in Attawapiskat First Nation’s Traditional Territory.

De Beers plans put this new landfill in the vulnerable James Bay wetlands area, and in a place that has been of critical cultural, spiritual and subsistence importance to the Kattawapiskak Cree People for thousands of years. Attawapiskat First Nation fears another ‘Juukan Gorge’ disaster is going to occur if DeBeers gets its way, and the Indigenous community wants to alert De Beers’ shareholders to be aware, before bad decisions are made.

Juukan Gorge was an Indigenous sacred site, thousands of years old, blasted by miner Rio Tinto in Australia. The violation of this Indigenous site resulted in widespread international media coverage and public outcry. Continue Reading →

The only city in Northwest Territories – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – March 26, 2021)

March 29, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Mining History, Diamond Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Far to the north lies the second largest of Canada’s three territories, simply named the Northwest Territories, and within this vast region of more than 400,000 square miles lies its only city, the capital called Yellowknife.

Yellowknife, and most of the region of the Northwest Territories, lies within what is known as the Canadian Shield, a large area of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock, meaning it dates to the earliest part of Earth’s history.

Scoured down to stone during the last ice age, glaciation has receded over time, revealing a joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, stretching from north of the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, this shield covers more than half of Canada and most of Greenland, and extends south into the northern parts of the United States. Continue Reading →

Illegal Gold Rush in the Amazon Raises Risk to Indigenous People – by Luana Vicentina (Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg – March 25, 2021)

March 25, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Diamond Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Illegal gold and diamond mining is proliferating in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest and threatening South America’s largest group of native people who still live in relative isolation, the Yanomami.

Criminal mining groups are encroaching on the indigenous territory that straddles Brazil and Venezuela, polluting rivers, bringing diseases like Covid-19 and malaria, and stirring fears of a repeat of the brutal slaughter of 16 Yanomami by illegal prospectors in the 1990s, according to a report published Thursday by Brazilian conservation group Instituto Socioambiental and the Hutukara Yanomami and Wanasseduume Ye’kwana associations.

“They are coming in like starved beasts, looking for the wealth of our land,” Davi Kopenawa, chairman of the Hutukara Yanomami Association, said in a statement. Continue Reading →

We need raw material diplomacy, not conflict – by Günther Maihold (IPS Journal – February 18, 2021)

February 18, 2021 in Africa Mining, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Conflict Minerals, Diamond Mining, Europe Mining, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.ips-journal.eu/

Trade in valuable minerals often fuels violent conflicts. The EU’s new approach to raw material diplomacy could change that

While blood diamonds are certainly the most well-known ‘conflict raw material’, they are by no means the only one. The proceeds from their sale have, for example, been used to finance and prolong violent conflicts in Africa.

But if the European Commission should get its way, the banning of such raw materials would be expanded to strategic ones – through a new EU regulation on conflict minerals.

Raw materials are an indispensable part of modern economies and geopolitical competition. Naturally, that leaves them in high demand. However, mining and exploiting them is often linked to high social and environmental costs in many countries of the Global South. Continue Reading →

For Valentine’s Day, Traceable, Transparent Jewelry Supply Chains (Eurasia Review – February 14, 2021)

February 16, 2021 in Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Jewellery and Coins

https://www.eurasiareview.com/

Jewelry and watch companies should improve efforts to ensure that human rights are respected in their global supply chains, Human Rights Watch said ahead of Valentine’s Day on February 14, 2021.

Human Rights Watch issued “20 Questions Company Officials Should Ask to Guide Action,” which jewelers and other industry experts can use as a starting point to understand a jewelry company’s sourcing practices and respect for human rights.

The questions deal with a company’s transparency, traceability, and steps to identify and respond to human rights risks in their global supply chain, including at mines of origin. Continue Reading →

Five important trends in the diamond industry right now – by Paul Zimnisky (Mining Review Africa – February 15, 2021)

February 16, 2021 in Africa Mining, Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles

Home Page

Paul Zimnisky, independent diamond industry analyst and consultant.

Despite relatively stable consumer demand for diamonds in established markets like the U.S. and notable growth from newer markets like China, for the most of last decade the diamond industry has felt apathetic.

This can in part be explained by an arguably oversupplied supply-chain, insufficient marketing efforts and a general pessimism towards the diamond business as a changing consumer economy challenges traditional industries.

That said, as of late, the diamond industry has been acknowledging these challenges, in some areas more proactively than others, with various macro as well as more micro initiatives. Continue Reading →

Diamond Prices Regain Their Sparkle – by Will Horner (Wall Street Journal – February 9, 2021)

February 9, 2021 in Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Jewellery and Coins

https://www.wsj.com/

Diamond prices have rebounded from a coronavirus-driven slump thanks to the reopening of some economies in Asia and strong jewelry sales around the world over the holiday period.

Polished diamond prices are up 5.1% from their lowest point in March, putting them at their highest level in nearly a year and a half, according to a gauge compiled by the International Diamond Exchange.

The pandemic dealt a big blow to the diamond industry last year, with every link in the supply chain—from Russian miners to India’s diamond cutters to luxury boutiques in New York—being closed or seeing activity curtailed. Continue Reading →

Sale of Ekati mine to Arctic Canadian Diamond closes (Canadian Mining Journal – February 4, 2021)

February 5, 2021 in Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Diamond Mining

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Dominion Diamond‘s sale of Canada’s first diamond mine, Ekati, to Arctic Canadian Diamond Company has been completed.

Full operations at the site, which had been placed on care and maintenance at the beginning of the pandemic last March, resumed on Jan. 20 after a 10-week restart that began in November. A “full recall” of employees is expected to be complete by Feb. 25.

Arctic Canadian is owned by DDJ Capital Management, Brigade Capital Management, LP and Western Asset Management Company, LLC. In a sale that was approved in December, the company acquired the asset in return for assuming US$70 million of Dominion’s outstanding indebtedness under its existing revolving credit agreement, as well as the reclamation obligations for Ekati. Continue Reading →

Panna: The dark underbelly of India’s diamond hub – by Manish Chandra Mishra (Mongabay India – February 5, 2021)

February 5, 2021 in Asia Mining, Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles

https://india.mongabay.com/

On a sunny winter afternoon in January, Kusum Bai (name changed), a 40-year-old diamond mine labourer from Kalyanpur village of the Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, had just returned from the mine very early.

Despite losing the day’s wage, she was still praising her luck sitting on a cot in her small house made of mud and stones. The day could have ended up in jail had the forest officers caught her.

Kusum faces this situation once or twice every week as she works in an illegal diamond mine. Continue Reading →

Diamond Trade Is Roaring Back Thanks to Stuck-at-Home Shoppers (Bloomberg News – January 24, 2021)

January 25, 2021 in Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The global diamond trade spent years in the doldrums, only to be crippled by the pandemic just as things started looking up. Now, at last, business is booming again.

Factories in the industry’s “engine room” — the Indian city of Surat — are so desperate to boost production that the most-skilled cutters and polishers are being headhunted with offers of 50% pay hikes and perks like free food and housing.

Miner De Beers is poised for its biggest rough-diamond sale in three years, even after raising prices, and rival Alrosa PJSC said this week it expects the recovery will keep going for some time. Continue Reading →

Elite Diamond-Buying Club Shrinks as De Beers Culls Old Clients – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – January 14, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Jewellery and Coins

https://www.msn.com/

(Bloomberg) — De Beers has cut off some of its long-term diamond buyers, marking one of the biggest shakeups in the way the miner sells gems since the end of its monopoly 20 years ago.

De Beers staff spent Wednesday calling its 80-odd handpicked customers, with some told they will be losing their seat at the industry’s top table, according to people familiar with the situation.

The world’s biggest diamond supplier has spent more than a year mulling the changes, which are designed to funnel more stones into fewer hands, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks were private. Continue Reading →

Decision over future of Oxford’s Cecil Rhodes statue delayed – by Michael Race (BBC News – January 6, 2021)

January 7, 2021 in Africa Mining, Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.bbc.com/

A decision over the future of a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes has been delayed until the spring.

Calls to remove the Oriel College statue in Oxford were reignited in June last year after a statue of 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston was torn down in Bristol. A commission was set up to examine the statue’s future and said a report would be released this month.

But the date has been delayed due to a “considerable volume of submissions”. A spokesperson for the commission, set up by Oriel College, said a report would “likely be published in early spring 2021 in order to ensure that all input is given careful and due consideration”. Continue Reading →

157.4 carat diamond unearthed at Arctic diamond mine in Canada – by Levon Sevunts (Radio Canada International – December 17, 2020)

December 17, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Diamond Mining

https://www.rcinet.ca/

A Canadian mining company says it has unearthed a “157.4 carat gem of exceptional quality” at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

It is the largest “gem quality” diamond recovered to date from the Gahcho Kué mine and will be offered for sale during the first quarter of 2021, Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. announced Wednesday in a press release reporting its fourth quarter diamond sales.

The company said it sold 956,348 carats in the fourth quarter raising $80.2 million ($61.7 million US). Continue Reading →

Lab-grown diamonds – a girl’s new best friend: The truth behind the ethical, affordable, identical(!) alternative to traditional diamonds – by Charlie Teather and Sheilla Mamona (Glamour Magazine – December 8, 2020)

December 10, 2020 in Diamond Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Jewellery and Coins

https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/

They’re one of the few jewellery details that appeals to almost everyone. You can have a preference for daintier pieces or super chunky ones, lots of layers or simple singles, yellow gold, white, or even rose, but even the least traditional amongst us – whether we like to admit it or not – go a little weak at the knees for a truly mega diamond.

Asscher cuts, brilliant rounds, ovals… carat weights, GIA grades, clarity, colour – you’re likely aware that there are seemingly a million different decisions to make when buying a diamond, but did you know that there’s actually a whole other decision that needs to be made before you even get to this level of specificity?

A decision that’s usually made for you without you even knowing it, all thanks to ‘tradition’. Because there’s more than one kind of ‘diamond’. We’re not talking about all the aforementioned aesthetic details, but rather the way in which the diamond is formed. Continue Reading →