Twitter

Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Gahcho Kué diamond mine life extended to 2031 – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – August 22, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The latest update reveals the plant at the Gahcho Kué mine will be recovering diamonds into 2031, a year later than earlier estimated. The mine, located 280 km northeast of Yellowknife, NWT, is a joint venture of De Beers Canada (operator and 51% owner) and Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPVD) (49%).

The update follows engineering work to steepen the walls of the open pit. This change will allow additional kimberlite to be captured within the mine plan and represents an increase of 2.7 million tonnes at 2.0 c/t or 5.5 million carats in the resource.

Read more

Diamonds may not be forever: Belgium’s grip on gems shaken by Russian sanctions drive – by Sunniva Rose (The National News – May 3, 2024)

https://www.thenationalnews.com/

Rules of the game are being rewritten and industry actors are jostling for influence after Russia diamond ban triggers upheaval in historic Belgian district

From the corner where the International Gemological Institute stands on one side and the Diamond Bourse on another, as far as the eye can see, the outlets at the heart of a historic Antwerp district have long inspired awe for the sheer concentration of a global trade in the most valuable cut stones.

Within a few minutes’ walk are dozens of gems dealers braced for upheaval as the wind of change blows. The latest ban on Russian diamonds by the group of seven (G7) countries has caused what many have described as nothing less than a “revolution” in the centuries-old diamond hub.

Read more

[Diamonds] Indian Consumers Not Into Synthetics, Seek Natural: Titan – by Leah Meirovich (Rapaport Magazine – August 6, 2024)

Home

Domestic customers at Titan Company are less interested in buying synthetic diamonds than their US and overseas counterparts, looking more for assurances that the stones they purchase are natural.

“We’ve been trying to track the inquiries on a continuous basis across all the stores, Tanishq, CaratLane, Mia and Zoya, and so far we have not seen material inquiries for [customers wanting lab-grown diamonds],” Titan managing director C.K. Venkataraman said in an analyst call last week. “What we do hear about, what our customers are more curious about, they want to be assured that what we are selling is natural, and [doesn’t have any lab-grown in it].”

Read more

Weak Rough Prices Hit Ekati Sales – by Suzanne Watkin (Rapaport Magazine – July 29, 2024)

Home

Revenue from the Ekati mine’s rough output fell 27% during the second fiscal quarter, according to owner Burgundy Diamond Mines.

The company sold 1 million carats from the Canadian deposit for $106 million for the three months that ended June 30, it said last week. That compares to the sale of 1.3 million carats for $145 million during the same period a year ago.

Read more

Women blast through gender barriers in Colombia’s emerald mines, but struggle to emerge from poverty – by Astrid Suarez (Associated Press – March 14, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

COSCUEZ, Colombia (AP) — Deep inside mountain tunnels where the heat is so intense it causes headaches, women with power tools are chipping away at boulders in search of gems. They have opened a difficult path for themselves in Colombia’s emerald industry, a sector long dominated by men.

The lack of job opportunities, combined with the hope of a find that will make them rich, has pushed the women into mining. Colombian emeralds are known around the world for their quality and the best can be sold for thousands of dollars, though most people in the industry aren’t wealthy.

Read more

The Current State of the Diamond Market Is…Not Good – by Rob Bates (JCK On Line – July 18, 2024)

JCK Online

Both the natural and lab-grown diamond sectors are hurting right now, industry members acknowledged at a panel on “The Current State of Diamond Market,” held July 16 during the Initiatives in Art and Culture’s 14th annual Gold + Diamond Conference in New York City.

“Business is quiet for both natural and lab-grown,” said Ronnie Vanderlinden, president of Diamex, which deals in both products. “There’s struggles at the moment. Liquidity is not strong. The U.S. market is the strongest market in the world right now. We hope that by the time September comes around, consumers will wake up and there will be better demand for both natural and lab-grown.”

Read more

Kiran Gems’ Sister Company Grows Synthetic Diamonds – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – July 18, 2024)

Home

Mehul Vaghani, cofounder and director of Kira Diam — which claims to be the world’s largest CVD producer — gives his take on the market.

Given how many Indian diamond firms have invested in synthetics in the past five years, it’s unsurprising that the company that claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of natural polished should also get involved.

Indeed, Kira Diam, the brainchild of Kiran Gems founder Vallabhbhai Patel, also maintains it is the world’s largest producer in its field. That field is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the method it uses to grow gem-quality synthetic diamonds primarily for the US jewelry market.

Read more

Anglo’s plan to sell De Beers complicated by diamond output cut – by Thomas Biesheuvel and William Clowes (Bloomberg News – July 18, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc is looking at more diamond production cuts as the industry continues to struggle, complicating its plan to sell the De Beers unit as part of a radical overhaul of its business.

Anglo announced the restructuring earlier this year as part of a successful rebuttal of a US$49 billion approach from BHP Group, the world’s the biggest miner. That plan centered around exiting diamond mining by spinning off or selling its De Beers unit, separating platinum and selling its coal mines.

Read more

‘We now face guns’: Small-scale miners fear Wagner’s advances in CAR – by Philip Obaji Jr. (Al Jazeera – July 10, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Local miners in the Central African Republic face eviction and violence as the Russian group takes over gold and diamond mines.

Beloko, Central African Republic – When Sadock arrived in the northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) town of Koki in November 2022, he thought he had finally found a safe place to live and work. For years, small-scale miners like him have been displaced and forced to relocate over and over again whenever foreigners entered a local area, seized surrounding gold mines and evicted local miners.

“Some of us [artisanal miners] decided to move to Koki because we thought at the time that no one was disturbing artisanal miners in the [northwest] region,” Sadock, who wanted to be identified by only his first name for fear of retribution, told Al Jazeera.

Read more

India’s Diamond Trade Is Suffering. Why Isn’t America’s? – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – July 11, 2024)

Home

Weak demand and a supply glut have created a perfect storm for manufacturers. But the only true solution is at the consumer level.

Indian manufacturers view the current market situation as something close to a crisis. The desperation is similar to that during last year’s deep downturn. Polished prices are falling, and sightholders are losing money on rough.

But American dealers are happier. They say there is demand from retailers, albeit not at the peak levels they saw in 2021 and early 2022. They enjoyed decent sales at the Las Vegas shows, and trading is better now than before the exhibitions. So why the discrepancy?

Read more

Ekati boss envisions another 25 years of mining – by Derek Neary (NNSL.com – July 4, 2024)

https://www.nnsl.com/

Agnico Eagle hits new marks at Meliadine and Meadowbank

The Northwest Territories’ economy continues to lean heavily on diamond production, which is waning overall, and, to a lesser extent, rare earths. In Nunavut, gold and iron ore are the backbone of GDP. Here are some noteworthy occurrences from operating mining companies in both territories.

Burgundy Diamond Mines

Burgundy Diamond Mines, owner of Ekati, reported a major jump in carats sold in its first quarter report for 2024. Its 1.32 million carats sold played a central part in the $117 million (U.S.) in revenues generated for the quarter. The total yield was 1.15 million carats, down from 1.18 million a year earlier.

Read more

Rio Tinto completes largest off-grid solar plant build in Canada’s north – by Staff (Mining.com – July 2, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) said on Tuesday its 100% owned Diavik diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) has successfully completed the installation of its 3.5 megawatt capacity solar power plant.

The project represents the largest off-grid solar power plant across Canada’s territories, the Australian miner said. The Diavik mine is located about 200 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, at the bottom of Lac de Gras.

Read more

Do Consumers Care About Diamond Origin? – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – June 20, 2024)

Home

Panelists at RapNet event highlight provenance challenges.

One of the ongoing questions in the diamond industry is whether shoppers care about the source of the stones they buy. For Olivia Landau, CEO of online natural-diamond retailer The Clear Cut, the problem is more fundamental.

“Everyone just assumes that natural diamonds come from one place, and it’s Africa, and Africa’s one country, and it is a blood diamond,” Landau said in a RapNet panel discussion at the recent JCK Las Vegas show. “We are starting from square one.”

Read more

Gahcho Kué diamond mine surpasses $2 billion spent with NWT and Indigenous businesses – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – June 26, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds announced that their joint venture Gahcho Kué diamond mine has surpassed the $2-billion spending threshold with Northwest Territories and Indigenous business.

The milestone represents 61% of the total $3.2 billion spent on the project since 2015 when construction began. Local businesses supply welding, transportation logistics, trucking, passenger and cargo flights, labour, and camp catering.

Read more

Beyond Prince Harry: Securing Botswana’s Diamond Legacy – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – June 27, 2024)

Home

Tourism could be central to the country’s post-mining plans, says Debswana executive.

What connects Prince Harry and Kim Kardashian? Probably quite a lot of things, but among them is that they have both been to Botswana.

Harry famously vacationed with Meghan Markle in the southern African country, while Kardashian has visited the Jwaneng diamond mine. The latter might not have been the most glamorous place in which the celebrity has set foot: Jwaneng, like most diamond mines, is a massive pit in the ground.

Read more