Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood – Page 49

UPDATE 2-Anglo American’s De Beers picks insider Cleaver as CEO (Reuters U.S. – May 27, 2016)

May 27, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

BENGALURU/BRUSSELS, May 27 Anglo American Plc’s De Beers named insider Bruce Cleaver as chief executive of the diamond group, which the global mining company is counting on to help revive its fortunes.

Cleaver takes on the new role at a difficult time for De Beers as Diamond sales stagnated in 2015, hit by a weaker Chinese economy. However, producers are seeing scope for recovery, especially in the United States, which accounts for some 45 percent of demand.

Anglo American, which has an 85 percent stake in De Beers — the world’s largest diamond producer by value — is focusing on the diamond business after a restructuring. Cleaver, 51, was previously group director of strategy and business development at De Beers. He will take over the role on July 1, the company said on Friday.

U.N. Security Council ends more than a decade of sanctions, arms embargo on Liberia – by Louis Charbonneau (Reuters U.S. – May 25, 2016)

May 26, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council voted on Wednesday to end sanctions and an arms embargo on Liberia, citing the West African country’s successful stabilization more than a decade after a 14-year civil war that killed nearly 250,000 people.

The unanimously adopted resolution by the 15-nation council welcomed “the sustained progress made by the government of Liberia in rebuilding Liberia for the benefit of all Liberians.”

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations David Pressman welcomed the move, saying the targeted sanctions on key individuals, the arms embargo and a ban on the export of Liberian timber and rough diamonds had contributed to Liberia’s stability.

Venezuela to rejoin global group fighting conflict diamonds (Reuters U.S. – May 24, 2016)

May 24, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Venezuela expects to rejoin the global watchdog established to stop trade in conflict diamonds as it seeks to resume diamond exports, its central bank director said on Tuesday.

“We are certain we will rejoin this year,” Jose Khan told Reuters on the sidelines of an international meeting of the group, known as the Kimberley Process.

Khan said Venezuela was a tiny exporter of around 3,000 carats a month until, unable to verify the legitimacy of its diamonds, it stopped issuing export certificates in 2005 and unilaterally removed itself as an active participant in the Kimberley Process in 2008.

After its withdrawal, it was not officially allowed to export diamonds, although some smuggling continued in subsequent years, traders told Reuters.

De Beers eyes diamond exploration in northern Saskatchewan – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 19, 2016)

May 20, 2016

http://thestarphoenix.com/

The world’s largest diamond mining company has entered into a multi-million-dollar agreement to look for crystallized carbon in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.

De Beers Canada Inc. optioned land claims south of Lake Athabasca from CanAlaska Uranium Ltd., and can now spend up to $20.4 million exploring and drilling 75 “kimberlite-style targets” identified in the 2011 Saskatchewan Geological Survey.

“We might have diamonds in Saskatchewan, and De Beers are really interested … This is an opportunity to investigate something completely new,” CanAlaska president and CEO Peter Dasler said Thursday.

Transparency equals bankability, World Diamond Congress hears – by Martin Creamer (Mining Weekly.com – May 19, 2016)

May 20, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The large number of bad-debt bankruptcies in the diamond industry in recent years was aired on the second day of the 37th World Diamond Congress in Dubai, where much emphasis was again placed on the critical need for financial transparency.

De Beers commercial development head Howard Davies drew attention to the difficulty of banks to view the diamond business as low-risk. “Transactions must all be real with real clients and real invoices. Sustainability multiplied by transparency equals bankability,” Davies told the congress, while also drawing attention to diamond portability facilitating rapid cross-border transactions.

Signet Jewellers VP David Bouffard said his company was committed to the responsible sourcing of diamonds and insisted on knowing where its diamonds were coming from and “who touches them along the way”.

Best friends? Anglo keeps De Beers’ diamonds – by Philip Blenkinsop (Reuters Africa – May 19, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

ANTWERP (Reuters) – Mining group Anglo American has retained De Beers as a prize asset after a radical overhaul in the belief that surging Chinese and Indian demand for diamonds will outstrip dwindling supply even after a 2015 crunch.

The group, in which Anglo American has an 85 percent stake, has seen its market share fall from over 80 percent in the 1980s to about a third now, losing it control of supply and unleashing price volatility.

Its challenges are compounded by competition from synthetic diamonds and uncertain demand from customers in the “millennial” generation, aged roughly 18 to 34. Anglo has cut the value of De Beers assets in its books each year since 2012, after it had paid $5.1 billion for a 40 percent stake.

Swarovski Joins the Man-Made Diamond Market – by Chaim Even-Zohar (Idex Online.com – May 19, 2016)

May 19, 2016

http://www.idexonline.com/

As is the case in virtually all major strategic corporate moves in the secretive Swarovski crystal empire, its entry into the lab-grown gem-quality diamond business was planned and executed in utmost secrecy. Within the Swarovski family, the world’s leading producer of cut crystals, its former president and chairman, Helmut Swarovski, had endeavored for years to find an entry into the diamond business.

Eventually, Helmut’s daughter, Nadja Swarovski, her cousin, Markus Langes-Swarovski, and the three other family members of the company’s executive committee, made it happen. They are cautiously testing the waters in the man-made diamond jungle. The “Swarovski Created Diamonds” has made its debut.

Swarovski Marketing May Provide ‘Product Differentiation’

For the diamond market, Swarovski’s new brand represents a welcome game changer as the company can potentially provide the ethical, legal and moral leadership in the man-made diamond market.

Rio Tinto reaches 100 million carats milestone at the Diavik diamond mine (Mining.com – May 17, 2016)

May 17, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto, the operator of the Diavik diamond mine in Canada, has announced a major milestone of producing 100 million carats of rough diamonds since the mine commenced in 2003.

Rio Tinto Diamonds, Salt & Uranium managing director Simon Trott said “We are delighted to reach this milestone and I am enormously proud of the teams who have helped make this happen safely and responsibly in some of the harshest operating conditions in the world.”

The Diavik diamond mine, located on an island in a remote sub-arctic lake, is Canada’s largest diamond mine. The mine produces predominantly gem quality diamonds destined for high end jewellery in all major consumer markets around the world.

[Diamond miner Alrosa] Privatising Russian state companies – by Anna Kuchma (Russia and India Report – May 16, 2016)

May 16, 2016

http://in.rbth.com/

The Russian government said at the beginning of this year that it had “a large privatization plan”, within the framework of which it intends to get one trillion rubles ($12.6 billion) in two years. The plan for 2016 includes the sale of shares in two oil companies, Rosneft and Bashneft, a share package in one of the largest state banks, BTV, and the Alrosa diamond company.

At the end of April 2016, the privatization format of the list’s first company was determined. The government decided to sell 10.9 percent of Alrosa, Russia’s largest diamond mining company, in the Moscow Stock Exchange, writes the Vedomosti newspaper.

The schedule for the sale is not specified. Earlier, the government considered selling the package to a strategic partner. However, the company itself requested public privatization.

De Beers says diamond market faces ‘fragile recovery’ – by Allan Seccombe (Financial Times – May 16, 2016)

May 16, 2016

http://www.ft.com/

London – The global diamond market faces a “fragile recovery” in spite of efforts by De Beers to stabilise the sector, according to the head of the company. Philippe Mellier highlighted how De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, cut output last year to try to revive the market amid waning demand for diamond jewellery, partly because of China’s economic slowdown.

“It’s a very fragile recovery. The market is not going to bounce back like it did after the last big problems,” he said in a Financial Times interview, referring to the recovery after 2009, when De Beers cut output by half following the global financial crisis that choked off diamond buying.

De Beers, a subsidiary of Anglo American, has been hit hard by the latest downturn in the diamond market. It reported earnings before interest and tax of $571m for last year, down 58 per cent compared with 2014.

Goldcorp Inc makes first move into Arctic with $520 million deal to buy Kaminak Gold Corp – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – May 13, 2016)

May 13, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

The $520-million sale of Kaminak Gold Corp. marks yet another success for mining entrepreneur Eira Thomas, whose companies have been on a major winning streak of late. “I’m really fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in some terrific projects,” Kaminak’s chief executive said in an interview.

Ms. Thomas, 48, is known as the “Queen of Diamonds” because she discovered the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories in 1994. But her recent track record is just as notable.

She co-founded Lucara Diamond Corp., which made headlines around the world last year when it discovered the second-largest gem-quality diamond in history. Stornoway Diamond Corp., which she co-founded and led for several years, is close to bringing Quebec’s first diamond mine into production. They are two of the mining sector’s only bright spots of the past few years.

CUTTING REMARKS: Why the NGOs and Dubai Still Can’t Get Along – by Rob Bates (JCKonline.com – May 12, 2016)

May 13, 2016

http://www.jckonline.com/

A worrisome sign about whether all sides in the Kimberley Process can continue to work together

There have been so many feuds and boycotts and crises in the Kimberley Process over the years that it can be difficult keeping up with them all, never mind caring. But recently, mediation that attempted to end civil society’s boycott of this year’s KP meetings came to a premature halt, which represents a worrisome sign about whether the various sides in the KP can continue to work together—and more importantly, whether the industry can continue to reform itself.

Last year, the KP civil society coalition—composed of the 11 human rights groups that participate in the KP—announced plans to boycott this year’s KP meetings after frequent antagonist United Arab Emirates ascended to the position of chair. Afterward, the World Diamond Council commenced silent talks between the NGOs and UAE to end the spat. This week, those talks broke down.

As a result, not only did the two sides fail to bridge any gaps, but now relations between the two are as bitter as ever. (A spokesperson for the UAE KP chair declined comment.)

[South Africa] Search for gems gets deeper as industry adapts (Business Day – May 9, 2016)

May 9, 2016

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

PROOF that diamonds are getting harder to find can be seen in the South African bush, where one of the world’s biggest mining companies is spending $2-billion tunnelling under an open-pit mine.

De Beers spent 25 years digging a 450m deep by 1km wide hole to access diamond-rich rock from the surface at the Venetia mine, close to the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Now a new underground mine is being constructed underneath the hole to reach diamonds more than 1,000m below ground — a big bet by De Beers that their investment will reap decades of profit. “We are in very challenging times,” Ludwig Von Maltitz, the mine’s GM, says. “Worldwide, the easier diamond sources have probably been found, but with this resource here, we hope we have something that can extend well into the future.”

Diamond the size of a tennis ball found in Canadian-owned mine could fetch C$90M – by Diana Mehta (Canadian Business Magazine – May 4, 2016)

May 5, 2016

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

The Canadian Press – A three-billion-year-old diamond the size of a tennis ball could fetch more than C$90 million when the Canadian mining company that unearthed it puts the rock up for auction this summer.

But the first person to lay eyes on the whopping gem barely gave it a glance, the CEO of Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corp. recalled Wednesday, as the eye-popping estimate for the precious stone was issued by auctioneer Sotheby’s.

“He’d only been working for us for two weeks, so he sees the thousand carats and goes ‘oh, this must be normal,’” William Lamb told The Canadian Press. “He didn’t tell anybody. It was only when the chief saw it that there was this huge commotion on site.” The diamond was unearthed in November, at the Karowe mine in Botswana that’s owned by Lucara (TSX:LUC).

NEWS RELEASE: Victor Mine Wins John T. Ryan National Safety Award

May 4, 2016

De Beers Ontario Operation Reported Zero Lost Time Injuries During 2015

CALGARY, May 3, 2016 /CNW/ – De Beers Victor Mine, Ontario’s first and only diamond mine, is the recipient the national John T. Ryan Award for 2015, Canada’s most celebrated award for mine safety. The award was presented at the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Awards Gala in Vancouver, B.C. on May 2.

Victor Mine received the award in the Select Mines category in recognition of its outstanding safety performance in 2015. During the year, the Victor Mine team had zero Lost Time Incidents (LTIs) and recorded the lowest overall reportable injury rate among all mines in Ontario.

Kim Truter, De Beers Chief Executive Officer, Canada, congratulated the Victor team for their outstanding safety performance.