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Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Lac de Gras glitter became the backbone of the NWT economy (Part 2 of 2) – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – November 2016)

http://resourceclips.com/

The greatest staking rush the world’s likely seen, a shakeup of the global diamond industry and a tremendous boost to Northwest Territories finances—all that started with the Ekati discovery announced by Chuck Fipke 25 years ago this week.

The effects on the NWT alone were momentous. The exploration sector boomed like never before, reaping four discoveries in six years that became working mines, while communities and individuals realized benefits both tangible and intangible.

Exploration fervour “certainly caused an injection into the economy,” notes Tom Hoefer, NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines executive director. “But where it really made a difference was when we had mines developed.”

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Happy Couples Don’t Buy Diamonds Online the Way They Used To – by Polly Mosendz (Bloomberg News – November 7, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A diamond is no longer forever. It’s until you get sick of it, list it for sale online, and buy another one.

Modern expectations for engagement rings have proven more fluid than the future heirlooms sought by earlier generations. Just like virtually every other purchase, diamond rings frequently change hands online, far from a loupe-holding jeweler. It’s still a shaky time for the diamond industry, but the ring market on EBay has grown 58 percent over the last five years, and digital jewelry consignment has become safer and more popular.

This moment of transition makes it particularly interesting to note what happened on Monday to the longtime pioneer in online diamond sales. Blue Nile Inc., which began selling diamonds online in 1999 and went public in 2004, canceled its third-quarter earnings call to announce instead an agreement to be acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC. The all-cash deal values the diamond seller at about $500 million, about 34 percent over Blue Nile’s Friday afternoon closing price.

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Diamond mining company moving head office to Calgary – Reid Southwick (Calgary Herald – November 7, 2016)

http://calgaryherald.com/

A company that operates a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories is relocating its corporate head office to Calgary in a move it says will save $19 million a year.

Dominion Diamond Corp., which runs the Ekati mine and has a 40 per cent stake in the Diavik mine northeast of its current head office in Yellowknife, said the move is part of wider efforts to cut costs.

The company, which plans to lay off workers as part of the move, said 75 per cent of its annual savings will come from lower labour costs, while the rest will come from reduced office rents, among other savings.

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Diamond mines give economic sparkle to Canada’s North – by Deirdre Kelly (Globe and Mail – November 3, 2016)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Forevermark U.S. organized and paid for the writer’s trip. The company had no input on the content of the article.

JAMES BAY LOWLANDS, ONT. — The giant hole in the ground, visible several kilometres away from the vantage point of a jet-propelled plane, looks empty and cold, a desolate no-man’s land.

But as the tiny aircraft closes in, descending on a nearby airstrip, the lunar-like crater can be seen pulsing with life. People scurry below on foot or in trucks and behind forklifts. The Victor mine, located on a stretch of boggy muskeg in Northern Ontario, is a hive of activity. The open pit yields diamonds, among the best in the world. It also provides jobs.

Hundreds of the jobs have been taken up by Canadians as well as foreigners from as far away as South Africa, one outpost of London-based diamond giant De Beers SA, which has been operating Ontario’s first diamond mine in the James Bay Lowlands since 2008.

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A 300% Rally That Has Investors Questioning Anglo’s Plan to Sell – by Thomas Biesheuvel and Kevin Crowley (Bloomberg News – October 26, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

When a company quadruples in value over nine months, it’s unusual for the biggest investors to say management has the wrong strategy. But that’s exactly what’s happening with Anglo American Plc, the mining company that is the U.K.’s best-performing blue-chip stock this year.

In February, Anglo was reeling from a broad slump in commodities that sent its shares to an all-time low and compounded a mountain of debt. To stanch the bleeding, the company proposed selling more than half its assets, including coal and iron-ore mines that had plunged in value. Almost as soon as the plan was announced, prices began recovering, so much so that investors including top shareholder Public Investment Corp. urged executives to reconsider.

“The desperation levels are not there anymore,” said Hanre Rossouw, a Cape Town-based fund manager at Investec Asset Management, whose investments include Anglo shares.

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Quebec’s first diamond mine marks a milestone in the Plan Nord program – by Damon van der Linde (Financial Post – October 26, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

LAC LAGOPÈDE, Que. — Stornoway Diamond Corp. CEO Matt Manson stands over a glass display case containing piles of shimmering stones destined for rings and necklaces around the world. The diamonds are sorted by size, colour and shape, and using a pair of tweezers, Manson picks up one of the biggest: a clear eight-sided stone estimated to be worth more than $100,000.

“Diamonds are a mined product that people use to commemorate the most important personal moments of their lives,” he said at the recent inauguration of the Renard mine in north-central Quebec. Although the entire 20,000 carat haul could fit inside a wedding party punch bowl, it took 450 workers six days to produce and is valued between $3 million and $5 million.

The piles of gems were not only to display the potential of Quebec’s first diamond mine — they also represent the initial spoils of the provincial government’s Plan Nord initiative.

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De Beers spending more on South African diamond exploration – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – October 24, 2016)

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/ 

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diamond mining company De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) is spending more on exploration as it searches for a new diamond mine to augment its two existing South African diamond mines – Venetia, in Limpopo province, and Voorspoed, in the Free State.

DBCM CEO Phillip Barton, who spoke to Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of last week’s Oppenheimer De Beers Group Research Conference, said exploration expenditure had been increased from R30-million a year to R40-million a year, and that the company was prepared to spend more should it be warranted. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video).

“We’re still very positive around South Africa and our exploration activities continue, but it is looking like that needle in a haystack,“ he said, adding that the combination of brownfield and greenfield exploration under way was making use of the abundance of the geological information at the company’s disposal.

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Diamonds may be forever, but they are not an investor’s best friend – by David Dodwell (South China Morning Post – October 21, 2016)

http://www.scmp.com/

Impetuous, romantic and old fashioned as it may seem, I got married last month. So diamonds have been much on my mind, and of course have knocked a large hole in my bank balance. No comfort, then, to discover how poor an investment diamonds are. I’m sure the quality of the marriage more than makes up for it.

It seems the world’s diamond business – very important to Hong Kong, as one of the world’s leading diamond trading centres after Antwerp and Tel Aviv and host to at least nine diamond and jewellery fairs every year – is in a bit of a tizz.

The value of worldwide sales last year fell by 2 per cent to US$79 billion – but the volume of sales of rough diamonds tumbled by around 30 per cent. In Hong Kong, jewellery-shop leader Chow Tai Fook has seen sales fall by 12 per cent this year, while Tse Sui Luen has reported an 8.6 per cent fall.

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Oppenheimers, De Beers polishing diamond tourism’s sparkle – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – October 18, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The priceless value of diamond properties to South African ecotourism was highlighted on Tuesday when the outcomes of a range of research projects were revealed at the seventh Oppenheimer De Beers Group Research Conference.

Delivering a keynote address at the corporate headquarters of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP, a lifelong conservationist, outlined the importance of conservation to South Africa beyond mining and spoke of being prepared to fight to preserve the country’s valuable natural heritage “so long as there’s breath in my lungs”.

Buthelezi described the audience of academics, students and environmental managers as the “nation’s diamonds” of today, for their role in protecting tomorrow’s inheritance.

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India poised to become centre for rough diamond trading? – by Melvyn Reggie Thomas (Times of India – October 18, 2016)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

SURAT: Will the Special Notified Zone (SNZ) become the centre for rough diamond trading? It seems so, after the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed about strengthening bilateral diamond trade at the recently concluded BRICS summit in Goa.

Both India and Russia welcomed initiatives to promote direct trade in diamonds between the two countries and gave positive evaluation of the work of the SNZ at the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai during the summit after noting active support of this project from Russian diamond company, ALROSA.

India is the world’s largest diamond cutting and polishing centre and one of ALROSA’s key trade partners. In 2015, companies with Indian capital purchased ALROSA’s rough diamonds for the total of US$ 1.5 billion, including US$ 575 million direct supplies to India.

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New diamond mine brings hope to Canada’s northwest – by Pete Guest (Raconteur.net – October 13, 2016)

http://raconteur.net/

In Canada’s far north, the opening of the biggest new diamond mine for more than a decade could mean a revival of the region’s flagging fortunes

Canada’s Northwest Territory in Autumn is an endless wilderness of pine forests, carmine grass and trees turning yellow, pocked with copper-ringed lakes blooming with algae. The plane up from Calgary to the capital, Yellowknife, disgorges a handful of tourists from Japan who stop to take selfies in front of the stuffed polar bear on the baggage carousel.

The nascent tourism industry has been buoyed by a small but significant uptick in visitors from the Far East hoping to see the Aurora Borealis, which are considered auspicious in some quarters; children conceived under the Northern Lights are believed to be set up for a lucky life.

Locals may not always agree. After a mining-driven boom in the early-2000s, the territory’s economy hit the skids around the time of the global financial crisis, and has declined more than 15 per cent since its highest point in 2007.

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Not All Diamonds Enjoy Recovery as Budget Stones Get Left Behind – by Thomas Biesheuvel Bloomberg News – September 28, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The recovery in diamond prices is leaving out the smallest and lowest-quality gems. For the smallest diamonds, prices are down 15 percent this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

That compares with an average 7 percent increase for all stones yet to be cut and polished. The overall market is recovering after De Beers and Russia’s Alrosa PJSC cut supply in 2015 to boost sales.

The slump in gems smaller than three grains (0.75 carat) is partly a hangover of producer stockpiling, which left a “hefty supply” to sell in the first half, said Johan Dippenaar, chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Petra Diamonds Ltd.

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The 54M carat gem: De Beers’ new diamond mine is a rare thing that could be the gem giant’s best friend – by Jesse Snyder (Financial Post – September 24, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

GAHCHO KUÉ, N.W.T. — Seen from inside an approaching aircraft, the Gahcho Kué diamond mine seems to materialize out of nowhere, a speck of industrial development amid an endless stretch of low vegetation and tiny lakes imprinted on the northern Canadian rock face. Here, there are no natural points of reference. The view looking out from one side of the mine is nearly indistinguishable from any other.

But beneath the surface, the location is distinct from its surroundings. Under the cap rock at Gahcho Kué are three vertical tubes of mineral — known in the industry as pipes — rich with diamonds. The mine is expected to produce 54 million carats of diamonds during its 12-year lifespan, making it the world’s largest new diamond mine to be constructed in 13 years.

The joint-venture operation, located about 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, is 51-per-cent owned by De Beers Group of Companies, a privately owned diamond mining and retail company, and its massive London-based parent, Anglo American PLC. Toronto-based Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. owns the other 49-per-cent stake.

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NEWS RELEASE: ALROSA discussed the impact of synthetic diamonds on the diamond market

http://eng.alrosa.ru/

Hong Kong, September 20, 2016 – PJSC ALROSA, the world leader in diamond mining, held a meeting with the Company’s clients and partners at the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair.

The Company presented its vision for the development of the diamond market with an increased focus on the possible impact of the increased manufacture of synthetic diamonds on the natural diamond market. At a panel discussion, key market participants exchanged opinions on the risk of illegal mixing of synthetic and natural diamonds.

Representatives of international gemological laboratories and largest world jewelry retailers, diamond market analysts, heads of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, Diamond Producers Association, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, World Diamond Council, Israel Diamond Exchange, and Antwerp World Diamond Centre participated in the working meeting.

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OPINION: Priorities misplaced if overlooking benefits of new mine – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – September 20, 2016)

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – You can’t blame De Beers Canada for hinging the future of its proposed Tango mining project on support from the community of Attawapiskat. After all, when you are operating a mine on the James Bay Coast, discontent among residents can fuel ice-road blockades and costly delays in operation.

De Beers knows first-hand about the cost of such delays, having endured blockades on the ice road in the past, often at the hands of disgruntled former employees who were demonstrating over a personal demand.

With the Victor Mine winding down operations, it makes sense for De Beers to be working towards a smooth transition from anticipated closure of the mine in 2018 to the opening of its new Tango Extension. De Beers, which has been working on the Tango Extension for the past five years, is keen on meeting its timelines.

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