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Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

A girl’s very best friend: $55 million necklace on sale in Singapore – by John O’Callaghan (Reuters India – October 4, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE – (Reuters) – For someone with $55 million to spare on an egg-sized diamond, the world’s most expensive necklace is on sale this month at a jewellery show in Singapore, reflecting Asia’s growing appetite for precious gems and expensive baubles.

Known as L’Incomparable, the necklace created by luxury jeweller Mouawad features a yellow, internally flawless diamond of more than 407 carats suspended from a rose gold setting that is studded with 90 white diamonds weighing nearly 230 carats.

“Serious interest” has been expressed by a couple of potential buyers from Asia, said Jean Nasr, managing director of Mouawad in Singapore, declining to identify their nationalities.

“People who will get something like this are looking at it from a different perspective because this is definitely an investment piece,” he told Reuters.

The necklace, whose centrepiece diamond was found by chance in a pile of mining rubble by a young girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo about 30 years ago, will be the flashiest item on offer at the Singapore JewelFest on October 11-20.

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Blood diamonds and do-gooders – by Dustin Benton (New Statesman – September 26, 2013)

http://www.newstatesman.com/

Tim Worstall on conflict minerals – good economics, bad politics.

Earlier this week, Global Witness, the organisation behind restrictions on blood diamonds, called for an EU law to restrict the use of conflict minerals. This would match a US law, called the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires companies to trace the origin of certain metals through their supply chain to ensure they don’t come from known conflict zones.

To be clear, conflict minerals are both horrible and, unfortunately, in most of our electronics. Few would defend them, but the call for a new law was immediately met by criticism. “There are times when the actions of do-gooders makes [sic] me want to kneel down and weep bitter tears of pain,” exclaimed Tim Worstall in Forbes, who wrote a riposte to the call for the new law.

This isn’t because Worstall supports conflict minerals – he doesn’t – but because he thinks that we can prevent conflict minerals from being used for 300-400 times less money. Fundamentally, this is a debate about how best to create supply chain transparency, an essential component of resource resilience.

In essence, Worstall’s solution is to regulate smelters rather than manufacturers. Because the mineral ores used to create metals have a unique “fingerprint”, they can be tested prior to smelting to ensure the fingerprint doesn’t match that of mines from known conflict areas.

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Diamonds are a premier’s best friend – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury Northern Life – August 29, 2013)

 

http://www.northernlife.ca/

A deal benefitting a business which polishes diamonds mined at the DeBeers Victor Diamond Mine on the James Bay coast is an example of how the province works to create jobs in Northern Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne said.

She made the remarks during an Aug. 29 tour of Crossworks Manufacturing’s Sudbury office, which opened in 2009, and employs 35 people. Eighteen of these employees are from the Sudbury area, while the rest are originally from Vietnam.

Wynne, who is also visiting Kenora and Thunder Bay in the coming days as part of a tour of Northern Ontario, credits these jobs to a deal the province struck with De Beers to process 10 per cent of its Victor diamonds in Ontario.

“One of the things I’m determined to do as premier is to work to close the skills gap, to make sure that we provide opportunities for people in Ontario develop the skills for the businesses that are looking for those skills,” she said.

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A premier’s best friend [Sudbury diamonds] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – August 30, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The partnership between government and industry that resulted in a diamond processing plant in Sudbury is the model for the kind of work the Liberals are doing to ensure business thrives in Ontario, says Premier Kathleen Wynne.

The premier visited Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd., for the second time, to kick off a northern tour in which she’s delivering a couple of messages. One is that her government’s commitment to create jobs and fuel the economy extends to all parts of Ontario, including Northern Ontario.

Another is that Wynne is premier of the entire province, not just ridings in which Liberals are elected. Under an agreement between De Beers Canada and the government of Canada, De Beers is making 10% of the annual rough diamond production from Victor Mine, in the James Bay Lowlands, available for processing in Ontario.

Crossworks was offered the opportunity by the province and the Diamond Trading Company to purchase about $35 million worth of rough stones a year and cut and polish them at the downtown Sudbury plant.

Wynne toured the plant where 35 experienced diamond cutters, the majority of them highly skilled tradespeople from Vietnam, were at work.

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Israel looks to glitter in world diamond trade – by Ari Rabinovitch (Reuters India – August 29, 2013)

http://in.reuters.com/

RAMAT GAN, Israel – (Reuters) – The Israel Diamond Exchange flexed its muscles this week, hosting a four-day show it hopes will strengthen its position as a major hub, and market leaders voiced optimism the struggling industry would have a strong end to the year.

Hundreds of companies crowded the world’s biggest diamond trading floor on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where buyers, under heavy security and armed with eye loupes, ambled through rows of tables that displayed $2 billion of precious stones.

It was the largest event the exchange had held. Official figures were not made public, but Yair Sahar, president of the exchange, said sales were in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and he expected the show to provide a $2 billion boost by the end of the year.

“The eyes of the world are watching us. The mining companies, the jewelry manufacturers, they are wishing – ‘please be successful’,” Sahar said. Israel is already a key trading center and diamonds account for about 20 percent of all industrial exports. Manufacturing has dwindled, but trading has thrived, reaching an annual turnover of $25 billion.

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Crossworks inks deal with Chinese firm – by Star Staff (Sudbury Star – August 29, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Craftspeople at Sudbury’s Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd. plant will soon be cutting and polishing diamonds for the world’s largest jewelry company, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.

Crossworks president Uri Ariel has just signed a long-term supply and licensing agreement with the Chinese firm to provide Crossworks’ patented hearts and arrows ideal cut square diamond to the company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chow Tai Fook will have exclusive distribution rights to sell the uniquely cut diamonds through its extensive retail network in Greater China.
Crossworks Manufacturing Ltd., a member of the HRA Group of Companies, is a Canadian company with five polishing facilities in Canada, Vietnam and Namibia. One of the Canadian plants is located in downtown Sudbury, where about 35 cutters process 10% of the diamonds mined by De Beers in the James Bay Lowlands.

Crossworks designed the square cut hearts and arrows diamond to enhance the brilliance, fire and scintillation in a square cut diamond, company spokesman Dylan Dix said in a release.

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De Beers eyes expansion to mine project near Attawapiskat (CBC News Sudbury – August 15, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Attawapiskat band members interested in negotiating a new Impact Benefit Agreement for the Victor Mine Extension Project.

De Beers Canada is looking into the possibility of extending its current Victor Mine project on northern Ontario’s James Bay Coast, on traditional land, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat First Nation.

The company officially opened its existing Victor Mine site in mid-2008, after discovering the region’s lucrative kimberlite field more than two decades earlier. It was the province’s first diamond mine.

With an estimated five years remaining on that open pit diamond mine, the company has proposed the Victor Mine Extension Project.

The project is in an advanced exploration stage at the moment, meaning a final decision on whether to pursue the extension is still at least 18 months away, said Tom Ormsby, the director of external and corporate affairs at De Beers Canada.

An environmental assessment is currently underway, and core samples will be done to gauge the value of minerals in the ground.

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Biggest diamond ever found and processed in Canada unearthed near Attawapiskat – by Alex Ballingall (Toronto Star – July 26, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

The 35-carat sparkler will, after polishing, go on a world tour to promote Ontario diamonds.

It came from the earth, a crystallized clump of carbon blasted from the rocky soil of northern Ontario by a multinational mining company. Now that it’s in the hands of a leading Canadian diamond maker, the gem from the open pit mine near Attawapiskat is causing a stir. At 35 carats, it’s the biggest diamond ever pulled from Canadian soil that will also be cut and polished in the country.

“That’s what makes this unique,” said Tom Ormsby, director of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Canada, which operates the Victor Diamond Mine in northern Ontario, 90 km west of James Bay. “It will be valued once it’s done being cut and polished,” said Ormsby, who declined to say how much Vancouver-based diamond cutter Crossworks Manufacturing paid to process the precious gem.

The Canadian company, which has a contract to buy as much as 10 per cent of the annual diamond production from the De Beers’ Victor mine, started working on the diamond this week, said Ormsby.

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De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine court U.S. billionaire – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 26, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Billionaire businessman Warren Buffett has a standing invitation to visit a diamond mine in Northern Ontario. Buffett, 82, has been asked to join a junket in September, in which Crossworks Manufacturing will fly possible investors and diamond buyers to De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine.

Victor is the first Canadian diamond mine in Ontario, and De Beers’ second Canadian diamond mine. It is located in the James Bay Lowlands, 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, so it’s safe to say Buffett has likely never visited that region.

Buffett purchased Omahabased Borsheims, one of the largest jewelers in the United States, in 1989. It’s part of his famous holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Unfortunately, Buffett isn’t available for the trip.

But Uri Ariel, president and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Crossworks, said the offer remains open to show Buffett around the mine that produces high-quality diamonds.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk and representatives from Asian diamond companies, such as Chow Fai Took Jewellery Group, and Asian journalists have been invited along.

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A cut above [Sudbury diamond cutting] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – July 25, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

It pales in value to the 69.42-carat diamond Richard Burton famously gave to Elizabeth Taylor in the 1960s. But a 35-carat diamond mined in the James Bay Lowlands, and being processed in Sudbury, is setting a record for the largest diamond to be mined, cut and polished in Canada.

The unassuming stone, which uncut is about the size of a small wad of gum, will soon reveal its magnificent sparkle and brilliance under the skilled and gentle touch of a trusted, experienced diamond-cutter.

Uri Ariel, president and chief executive officer of Vancouverbased Crossworks, said the stone comes close in size to the famous Taylor-Burton diamond. While the latter was of a higher calibre, Burton wouldn’t have “offended” Taylor by presenting her with this stone, Ariel told a small group in the boardroom at Crossworks’ downtown Sudbury plant.

The stone was mined three years ago at De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine. Ariel put it aside until three or four months ago when he was confident his company could process it to its best advantage.

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De Beers, Canadian partner welcome panel’s report on NWT project (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – July 23, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

YELLOWKNIFE — De Beers Canada and its partner Mountain Province Diamonds have received conditional approval from the Northwest Territory’s environmental review panel for their proposed Gahcho Kue open-pit diamond mining project.

The report from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board says the three-mine project has the potential to harm aquatic life in Kennady Lake, as well as the Bathurst caribou herd – raising concerns about the impact on hunting.

But the board’s panel says the project has economic merit and the environmental impact can be reduced to an acceptable level with appropriate measures.

“De Beers made important commitments to minimize impacts from the Project on the environment including water quality, fish, caribou, other wildlife, air quality, and people,” said the board’s report to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who will make the final decision on whether the project proceeds and under what conditions.

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North Slave Metis happy with Gahcho Kue agreement – by Lyndsay Herman (Northern News Services – July 17, 2013)

http://www.nnsl.com/index.php

Funds vital to standing up for Metis aboriginal rights, says North Slave Metis Alliance president

SOMBA K’E/YELLOWKNIFE – NWT’s newest potential diamond project put its obligations to the North Slave Metis in black and white July 10. The Gahcho Kue Joint Venture, of which 51 per cent is owned by De Beers and 49 per cent is owned by Mountain Province Diamonds, and the North Slave Metis Alliance signed an impact benefit agreement, which outlines annual payments, training programs, scholarships, and business opportunities awarded to the NSMA through the project. The details of this agreement or other impact benefit agreement are not public.

North Slave Metis Alliance president Bill Enge characterized De Beers’ approach to the negotiations as one of goodwill and integrity, adding the process was relatively efficient due to the success of the agreement already in place between the alliance and De Beers in regards to Snap Lake.

“We’re very happy with (the Gahcho Kue) impact benefit agreement,” Enge said. “This (agreement) pretty much mirrors the one we have with De Beers with respect to their Snap Lake diamond mine and using that impact benefit agreement that we already have with De Beers as a template we were able to expedite the negotiations as we had something to work from.”

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PRESS RELEASE: (CNW) Gahcho Kué Joint Venture and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Sign Socio Economic Agreement

June 28, 2013, 2:04 p.m. ET

YELLOWKNIFE, TORONTO and NEW YORK, June 28, 2013 /CNW/ – De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPV, NYSE MKT: MDM) are pleased to announce that De Beers as Operator of the Gahcho Kué Project today entered into a Socio Economic Agreement (SEA) with the Government of the Northwest Territories for the proposed Gahcho Kué diamond mine located in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT).

The agreement formalizes commitments made with respect to employment, training, business opportunities and other related benefits for NWT residents. It also establishes measures to monitor possible socio-economic impacts related to the proposed mine and establishes the mechanism to work with communities close to the mine site to ensure an adaptive management approach to socio-economic performance of the mine.

“In signing this SEA, both parties are affirming their commitment to advancing this Project in a way that not only creates jobs for our residents, but that supports the health and wellness of the region,” said Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, David Ramsay. “This is a significant step forward in opening this mine, a project that will translate into economic opportunities for people throughout the North and South Slave Regions, and across the territory.”

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Victor Mine receives ‘needed’ supplies during winter road season – by Lenny Carpenter (Wawatay News – April 17, 2013)

http://wawataynews.ca/
Despite losing more than two weeks of the winter road season along the James Bay coast due to two separate blockades, De Beers Canada says it was able to ship the necessary fuel and supplies to its Victor Mine site.

Tom Ormsby, De Beers’ director of external and corporate affairs, said the diamond mining company was able to receive the “needed” shipments thanks to the longer winter season. The James Bay winter road officially closed on March 29, two weeks longer than the previous winter road season.

“We were extremely fortunate that the weather in northern Ontario was colder than usual for a longer than period of time,” Ormsby said. “And that did allow us to get in what we needed to get in before we lost the winter road.”

Ormsby also acknowledged the work of local crews and businesses in putting in the extra effort once the road re-opened following the last blockade.

“Because of their strong planning and the fact we got strong support from the ground, from the local businesses and others, that when the program was able to resume, it did so safely and quickly,” Ormsby said.

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New northern riches? [Diamond mining Marketing Feature] – by Marc Davis (Vancouver Sun – April 8, 2013)

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

It was like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie. After the engine failed, the helicopter plunged into a rain forest canopy. But the dense vegetation prevented the crippled machine from crashing to Earth, sparing the lives of those on-board.

Among its three occupants was a young geologist called Buddy Doyle, who found himself hanging upside down in the upturned helicopter. The pilot was badly injured. So Doyle grabbed the damaged radio and blurted out a call for help. The survivors spent the night huddled in the cockpit, hoping and praying that someone had heard their distress call. Fortunately, they were plucked to safety by a helicopter crew from a rival company the following day.

Doyle’s brush with disaster happened over 20 years ago, when he was working for mining giant Rio Tinto Plc, exploring for gold in remote Papua New Guinea. But his nightmarish ordeal wasn’t for nothing. He was eventually credited with discovering one of the world’s richest gold finds: the Lihir mine, which has produced well over 20 million ounces of gold to date.

As his reward for toiling for years in steaming jungle terrain, where he suffered bouts of malaria and foot rot, Dolye was hurried off to a place that seemed like a different planet in comparison – Canada’s frozen northern tundra.

This is where his sharp geological acumen and dogged determination served him well once again.

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