Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood – Page 40

A changing landscape: Diamonds in Canada Editorial – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – June 8, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 9, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

Outside of the two new mines opening up in Canada — Stornoway Diamond’s Renard and De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds’ Gahcho Kué — there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate in the diamond world of late.

In Canada, De Beers flooded its Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories in January. The underground mine, which has never been profitable, had been put up for sale after being put on care and maintenance last April, but failed to find a buyer. The mine was the diamond giant’s first mine outside of Africa when it opened in 2008.

In Ontario, De Beers has put an expansion of its Victor mine on hold after failing to get the support of the nearby Attawapiskat First Nation to conduct a bulk sample at the Tango kimberlite. Production from the mine is slated to end in 2018, but De Beers is studying ways to delay closing Victor by processing lower-grade stockpiles or mining deeper into the pit. It’s also considering a sale of the asset.

Anglo American’s New Chairman Has a History of Leading Takeovers – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – June 7, 2017)

June 8, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The century-old mining giant Anglo American Plc named Stuart Chambers as its new chairman less than a year after he steered U.K. chipmaker ARM Holdings Plc through a $32 billion takeover.

Chambers, a former chairman at ARM and Rexam Plc, will join Anglo’s board in September and take over the post in November, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The 61-year-old is replacing John Parker, who said he was standing down earlier this year.

The new chairman will join as Anglo seeks to build on a recovery following a raw-materials downturn that hurt most of the mining industry. The company’s shares slumped to a record low in London in early 2016 on concerns about its debt position. Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani announced a plan to radically shrink the company through asset sales, but reversed the strategy this year after recovering commodity prices revived profits.

Billionaire Leviev Adds Zambia Emeralds to Diamond Portfolio – by Matthew Hill, Thomas Biesheuvel, Denver Kisting and Taonga Clifford Mitimingi (Bloomberg News – June 1, 2017)

June 1, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Billionaire Lev Leviev, who made his fortune undercutting De Beers’ former diamond monopoly, has bought half of one of Africa’s biggest emerald mines.

Leviev bought into the Grizzly emerald mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt province, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kombadayedu Kapwanga, managing director Leviev’s Namibian unit, said by phone. The operation has been renamed Gemcanton Investments Holdings.

A spokesperson for Africa Israel Investments Ltd., a listed company controlled in which Leviev is the biggest shareholder, didn’t return phone calls and emails seeking comment. A spokesperson at LLD Diamonds, Leviev’s jewelry business, didn’t return calls either. Leviev used his Israel-based diamond unit to purchase half of Grizzly, Kapwanga said, without providing further details.

Botswana Clash With Billionaires Could Tarnish Its Reputation As Resource Investor’s Paradise – by Kenneth Rapoza (Forbes Magazine – May 2, 2017)

May 23, 2017

https://www.forbes.com/

At first glance, there is simply no country like it in Africa. Within the continent, Botswana is considered to be the crème de la crème. It’s corruption perception score is better than every BRICS nation plus Mexico, according to Transparency International. It’s resource rich, known mainly for its diamond wealth, and has rolled out the red carpet for foreign firms with what seems like reliable, steady rule of law. This is the place to be.

Some say not so fast. Deloitte Botswana senior manager, Brian Watts, argues that appearance belies a true scale of graft. It is done by multiple actors all throughout the value chain. Watts estimates at least 5% loss due to fraud even in the private sector, in telcos.

Most cases are not disclosed to the public, Watts said during an event for whistleblowers back in March. In mainly state-controlled natural resources sector the stakes are much higher.

Diamond mining industry tries to woo millennials – by Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – May 19, 2017)

May 19, 2017

https://www.ft.com/

Groups led by De Beers grapple with challenge of young adults eschewing marriage

Erin Lowry told her partner in 2015 that she did not want an expensive diamond engagement ring. “I said I’d rather you get me a $1,000 solid band and we take the remaining money and put it to the honeymoon,” said the New York-based writer. “I’d much rather have a great trip than the ring I’m wearing.”

The statement by Ms Lowry, 27, who has not yet married, highlights the issue for the diamond industry posed by millennials. De Beers, the world’s largest diamond mining company, launched one of the world’s most successful advertising campaigns in 1948 when it coined the slogan A Diamond is Forever. It served to put diamond engagement rings at the heart of marriage for the rest of the 20th century.

But many millennials have an ambivalent or negative view of marriage. Increasing numbers of people who have entered adulthood in the 21st century are choosing to marry much later in life compared to previous generations, or not at all.

Violence in Central African Republic diamond mining hub, UN sends troops to tackle (African Review – May 18, 2017)

May 18, 2017

http://www.africanreview.com/

The United Nations plans to send additional peacekeeping forces to Bangassou, a diamond-mining town in Central Africa with 35,000 inhabitants, to tackle raising violence in the city that causes human right violations

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, replied in email that the law and order condition in Bangassou needs immediate assistance following a recent flare of attacks on civilians that has cost hundreds of lives in the past two months.

The violence in Bangassou started in 2013 when a coalition of Muslim Seleka rebels ousted the President Francois Bozize. The recent violence in the diamond-mining town is a fresh escalation of the four-year old conflict.

Dominion Diamond shares rise on report of possible CPPIB bid – by Susan Taylor and Nicole Mordant (Globe and Mail/Reuters – May 11, 2017)

May 12, 2017

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

TORONTO and VANCOUVER — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country’s biggest public pension fund, is considering a bid for Dominion Diamond Corp and is studying the miner’s books, people familiar with the process told Reuters.

The move comes after Dominion, the world’s third largest diamond producer by market value, put itself up for sale in late March, following an unsolicited $1.1-billion approach from U.S. billionaire Dennis Washington.

Shares of Dominion Diamond rose as much as 6.1 per cent in Toronto trading and as much as 8.1 per cent in New York. CPPIB, with assets of $298-billion under management, and Dominion both declined to comment. The sources, whom Reuters spoke to over a period of several days, declined to be named as the talks are confidential.

These were the top producing diamond mines in 2016 – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 9, 2017)

May 11, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

While diamond industry experts warn that demand is expected to outstrip supply as early as 2019, the largest mines keep producing the coveted rocks at full steam. Here are last year’s top 10 diamond mines in terms of output and value, based on data compiled by expert Paul Zimnisky.

1. Jwaneng, Botswana: Produced 11,975,000 carats, worth $2,347 million

Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world, is located in south-central Botswana in the Naledi river valley of the Kalahari. It’s 2 kilometres across at its widest point and patrolled by colossal 300-tonne trucks that labour up the terraced slopes.

Nicknamed “the Prince of Mines”, Jwaneng was opened in 1982, as the diamond trade helped Botswana go from being one of the world’s poorest countries to one of Africa’s wealthiest.

2017 Global Natural Diamond Production Forecasted at 142M Carats Worth $15.6B – by By Paul Zimnisky (Paul Zimnisky.com – May 3, 2017)

May 9, 2017

http://www.paulzimnisky.com/

Mined diamond production in 2017 is estimated to be 142.3 million carats worth $15.6B (see appendix below), which would be an 11.5% increase in carat volume produced over 2016 and an 9.9% increase in total value produced.

The top 10 largest mines in the world by value produced are estimated to represent 58% of global production. De Beers’ Jwaneng mine in Botswana is ranked number one, and is estimated to independently produce 15% of the world’s diamonds in value. Russia is estimated to be the largest producing nation by value at 35%, followed by Botswana at 22%, Canada at 14%, Angola at 8%, South Africa at 7%, Namibia at 5%, and Australia at 3%.

Russian diamond production is dominated by ALROSA (RTS: ALRS) which is 58% owned by Russian national and regional governments. The company’s prized Jubilee mine is estimated to produce 9.2M carats worth $1.4B in 2017, which by itself represents 9% of global diamond output by value. Company-wide, ALROSA’s portfolio includes 11 mines and 5 alluvial operations, producing 27% of global diamond production by volume and 33% by value (see Figure 1 for complete company-wide production figures of major producers).

Marine diamond mining: tough jobs — commercial diving on the seabed of Africa – by Jane Flowers (Blasting News – May 7, 2017)

May 8, 2017

http://us.blastingnews.com/

The Namaqualand semi-desert of South Africa meets the sea and under those waters are diamonds: meet the men who dive for them

West coast diamond divers are a hard breed of men. These #commercial diving experts do one of the world’s #tough jobs to make a living. The #marine diamond mining vessels they work from are practical rather than luxurious. They are crammed with dive gear and machinery.

The vessel I am on is no Queen Mary. Cabins are dank and cold, every space is crammed with first aid kits, food, tools, pipes and compressors that boggle the mind and in the little galley what looks like black bean soup perks away on the gas stove. The commercial diving men who live aboard for days on end surround me. They sport tattoos and muscle bulk, yet they engage me with almost quaint old-fashioned good manners..

I am lucky to be here. Sea medicals and pre-sea safety inductions came my way through a work connection. Not every journalist in the world can get onto the marine diamond mining vessels in western South Africa.

De Beers pilots plan to store carbon dioxide in diamond-bearing rock – by Tanisha Heiberg (Reuters U.S. – May 4, 2017)

May 5, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

KROONSTAD, SOUTH AFRICA – Anglo American’s diamond unit De Beers is piloting a project to capture carbon in the rock from which diamonds are extracted to offset harmful emissions, the company said. As planet-warming carbon emissions rise globally, many countries have adopted or proposed a form of tax on emissions and companies in the mining and manufacturing sector are concerned that this will hit their future profits.

South Africa proposed a tax of 120 rand ($9) per tonne on carbon emissions in 2012 but postponed it on worries that it would hurt profits already eroded due to a global commodities slump and higher electricity tariffs. De Beers said it aimed to remove as much carbon as it emits within five to ten years, and will select one of its mines for the project due to start in 2019.

“This project offers huge potential to completely offset the carbon emissions of De Beers’ diamond mining operations,” project leader and geologist Evelyn Mervine said. De Beers wants to store carbon dioxide in the kimberlite rock once all the diamonds have been removed. The kimberlite turns into a solid compound when mixed with carbon dioxide.

How I funded my studies by digging for Sierra Leone diamonds – by Umaru Fofana (BBC Africa – May 3, 2017)

May 3, 2017

http://www.bbc.com/

Freetown – In my teens, I worked as an artisanal miner, waist deep in water, sieving the gravel to find a diamond. Growing up in diamond-rich eastern Sierra Leone, it was the natural thing to do.

Jobs were, and still are, few and far between, so the gemstones were a magnet. They persuaded many to drop out of school, but I worked as a miner mostly during school holidays and sometimes at weekends. The Kono District was densely populated because the sparkling stones could be found virtually everywhere, sometimes through sheer luck.

My parents joined thousands of people from across the country, as well as The Gambia, Mali, Senegal and even Lebanon, to go to Kono in the hope of making a quick fortune. I grew up there and my work as a miner was hard. I dug the river beds for gravel and extracted the often muddy earth looking for diamonds.

The loneliness of Canada mine’s long-distance ice-road truckers – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day – April 28, 2017)

April 28, 2017

https://www.businesslive.co.za/

Drivers face dangers on road over frozen lakes and featureless tundra to reach the remote Gahcho Kué mining camp

With a voice like warm, liquid chocolate Denise Clarke welcomes drivers to the Gahcho Kué diamond mine after a long, tedious and sometimes dangerous drive across frozen wastes to reach the remote mining camp in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Her voice is a beacon for hundreds of drivers traversing the road made a legend by the television show Ice Road Truckers, a series dismissed as overly dramatic by the mine’s staff and drivers. But there are real challenges and dangers on the road carved out 40m wide over frozen lakes and nearly featureless snow-smothered tundra.

“It’s not that dangerous at all if you mind your p’s and q’s,” says Kyle Cannon, who looks younger than his 32 years, at the end of a long haul to bring diesel to Gahcho Kue from Yellowknife 280km to the southwest.

Mozambique Interested in Botswana Mining Experience (All Africa.com – April 25, 2017)

April 26, 2017

http://allafrica.com/

Gaberone — Mozambique and Botswana could cooperate in the mining industry, declared President Filipe Nyusi in Gaberone on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening of a Mozambique-Botswana Business Forum, on the second day of his state visit to Botswana, Nyusi said that Mozambique is interested in such cooperation because Botswana is recognized for mining expertise across the world. The Botswanan diamond mining industry has become the basis of the country’s economy, accounting for around 60 per cent of its exports.

“Mozambique has been discovering mineral resources”, said Nyusi, addressing about 100 business people, 30 of them from Mozambique. “We need to share knowledge to take advantage of our potential throughout the entire value chain, and Botswana has enviable experience”.