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Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Lab diamonds just won a battle, not the war – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 8, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

After a brief surge in diamond jewellery demand during the pandemic, diamond miners are now grappling with an oversupply that is forcing them to reduce the excess inventory. The prices of natural diamonds have dropped by almost 20% compared to a year ago, following a surge in 2022, but were higher ten years ago.

Anglo American’s De Beers, the largest diamond producer by value, has been cutting its output due to sluggish demand. Sanctions-ridden Russian miner Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by volume, stopped publishing sales data in early 2022, cut its output by 2.8% to 34.6 million carats last year.

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A tropical story of diamonds and Holocaust survival in ‘Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels’ – by Larry Luxner (Times of Israel – August 14, 2017)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/

New film explores the forgotten era when the Caribbean island became a temporary gem hub after opening its doors to thousands of European Jews fleeing the Nazis

HAVANA, Cuba — On a hot and steamy Shabbat afternoon in early July, 50 or so Jews gathered in the social hall of Cuba’s largest synagogue to relive a little-known piece of their own history.

The island’s premiere screening of “Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels: A Haven in Havana” didn’t disappoint. This poignant 46-minute documentary by co-directors Judy Ann Kreith and Robin Truesdale tells the obscure story of thousands of European Jews who not only escaped extermination by the Nazis during World War II, but also brought Cuba a thriving yet short-lived diamond cutting industry.

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De Beers Cuts Prices of Smaller Rough Diamonds – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – May 7, 2024)

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De Beers has reduced prices for smaller rough diamonds at this week’s sight, with manufacturers saying the adjustments aren’t enough to ease their profitability challenges. The miner cut the price of 3-grainer (0.75-carat) and smaller goods by 4% to 6%, market insiders told Rapaport News Tuesday. In 4- to 6-grainers (1 to 1.5 carats), the price decline was around 4%, they estimated.

Prices of 5- to 10-carat rough increased slightly, though this partly reflected modifications to the assortments, they added. Like-for-like price movements are hard to estimate because changes to the product mix can skew them, the sources cautioned. De Beers declined to comment.

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Does Anyone Want to Buy De Beers? – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – May 2, 2024)

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For sale: Diamond miner with unprecedented political challenges operating in the toughest market for years.

In December 2015, Anglo American’s leaders informed investors of a restructuring: The mining giant would be cutting 85,000 jobs, selling some of its noncore assets, and streamlining the business into three divisions, one of which was De Beers. This put a temporary stop to speculation that Anglo could sell its famed subsidiary at the end of a challenging year for commodities, including for diamonds.

The rumors have returned. In February of this year, Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad responded to speculation of a possible divestment by saying it was “not specifically” something the parent company was considering, according to the Financial Times. However, last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Anglo was in the early stages of discussions about a potential sale.

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Underground development at N.W.T.’s Ekati mine needs Tłı̨chǫ gov’t sign-off, says regulatory board (CBC News North – April 30, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Sable proposal needs Tłı̨chǫ sign-off, says Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board

If the company that owns the Ekati diamond mine in the N.W.T. wants to proceed with an underground mining project, it has to get sign-off first from the Tłı̨chǫ government, a regulatory board has ruled.

Just north of Ekati’s main camp — and 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, give or take — there’s already an open pit to access kimberlite, called the Sable open pit. An underground development would aim to pull out more of that diamond-containing rock.

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[Northwest Territories-Diamonds] Ekati submits plan for new underground project – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 29, 2024)

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The NWT’s Ekati diamond mine is asking regulators for permission to turn its Sable open pit into an underground mining operation. Beginning to mine underground at Sable is an important milestone in Ekati owner Burgundy’s attempt to keep the mine running – in some form – until 2040.

Submitting plans for Sable earlier this month, Ekati urged regulators to provide “timely authorization” of the initial work needed to switch to underground mining.

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Rock & Ruler: Golconda’s Trail of Diamonds – by Amrita Amesur (Sarmaya – June 17, 2021)

https://sarmaya.in/

What the chain of diamonds trickling from the marketplaces of Golconda tells us about the dynasties that branded and traded, and won and lost them

When it comes to diamonds, they say, nothing surpasses Golconda. Before the current problematic era of Blood diamonds, Golconda’s rocks shone the brightest. The only known source of the stone till the early 18th century, the mines of Golconda produced diamonds unparalleled in their ability to spawn legends and bewitch the beholder.

These mines put the gem on the world map and marked India as the original home of the adamas, the Greek root word for this indestructible jewel. For this reason, Golconda’s ancient mines, pre-dating dynasties of the last two millennia, were a source of wealth and influence for the powers that controlled them through the ages.

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Diamonds won’t be forever unless miners make them sparkle – by John Gapper (Financial Times – April 26, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

The natural jewels have lost their old mystique because carbon crystals can be grown in labs

Diamonds of the kind that come from mines, not laboratories, got a fine endorsement last week from LVMH, the French luxury group that owns Bulgari and Tiffany & Co. “When it comes to jewellery, we use natural diamonds . . . The most beautiful jewels are, in our opinion, the natural ones,” said Stéphane Bianchi, LVMH group managing director.

This was a nice sentiment but it did not, strictly speaking, make sense. Lab-grown diamonds not only look the same as solid carbon crystals formed in deep earth millions of years ago but are physically identical. Beauty must be in the eye of the beholder to justify paying far more for one than the other.

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What’s Causing China’s Diamond Slump? – by Avi Krawitz (Rapaport Magazine – April 24, 2024)

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In mid-2023, as China’s real-estate crisis lingered, property firms started to offer gold bars as an incentive to buy their apartments. Unlike real estate, gold is perceived to hold its value, the theory went. Then again, companies also presented new cars, cell phones, free decorations and parking lots to woo customers and boost sales.

Their efforts bore little fruit, however, as supply continued to outweigh demand. Housing starts have fallen by more than 60% relative to pre-pandemic levels, according to a February Report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Are lab-grown diamonds as sustainable as advertised? – by Leah Sarnoff (ABC News – April 23, 2024)

https://abcnews.go.com/

Over 60% of lab-grown diamonds are produced in China and India.

The natural diamond industry has been fueled by a glittering marketing strategy for decades, but is the sustainability of modern, lab-grown diamonds as clear-cut as consumers believe?

Since De Beers Group’s 1940s “a diamond is forever” advertising campaign, dubbed by Advertising Age as the “slogan of the 20th century” in 1999, the natural diamond industry exploded into a multi-billion-dollar industry and cemented itself into modern culture.

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Lab Grown Diamonds: The Choice for an Ethical Future – by Megan Taylor (Viva Glam Magazine – April 15, 2024)

While lab grown gems have been around since the 1970s, they weren’t popularized in the diamond industry until the early 21st century. People are becoming more conscious of the ethics behind how traditional diamonds are mined. As a result, lab grown diamonds attract enthusiasts because they present an ethical option that aligns with contemporary consumer values.

Learn about the issues with the natural diamond mining industry and how choosing lab made gems is a more ethical choice for your next piece of jewelry.

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Is this the right vision for the NWT’s economy? – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 13, 2024)

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It’s been a big week for discussion of the Northwest Territories’ economy. It might be about 15 years overdue.

Economist Graeme Clinton, who lives in Yellowknife, started the week by telling city council an “economic cliff” is coming – and there seems to be no plan.

He was referring to the closure of the NWT’s three active diamond mines, which currently power thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The first of the three to close will do so in just over 18 months’ time. Financially, diamond mining is the most important industry the territory has. There’s nothing on the radar that comes close to matching it for job creation and profit.

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Should alarm bells be louder for the NWT’s post-diamonds future? – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 8, 2024)

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“The idea is not to be alarmist, but we also have to face some facts.” The Northwest Territories is about to start losing the diamond mines that drive a huge chunk of its employment and revenue. Yellowknife economist Graeme Clinton doesn’t think the territory and its residents necessarily understand that yet.

“I’m not sure if people get it,” he told Cabin Radio. In an attempt to change that, he has produced a paper – backed by the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, the mining industry body for the North – and will present some findings to Yellowknife City Council on Monday.

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Are diamonds really ‘forever’? – by Erin Blakemore (National Geographic – March 21, 2024)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Thanks to a modern marketing campaign, the not-really-rare gem became the iconic stone for eternal love.

When Gladys Babson Hannaford visited Florida State University in 1960, her lectures weren’t exactly part of the curriculum—and Hannaford, also known as the “Diamond Lady,” wasn’t your ordinary teacher. A diamond “expert” who gave hundreds of “educational” talks on the gems annually, Hannaford was actually employed by an ad agency with a simple, if ambitious, mission: Make American women want diamonds.

Diamonds aren’t rare, and their prices were set by at the time by the ad agency’s glittering client, global diamond conglomerate De Beers. Nor were diamond engagement rings a historic tradition in the U.S. Yet Hannaford preached that diamonds were precious gems with important emotional and historical resonance. “The enduring quality of a diamond is associated with an enduring love,” she told students, encouraging her female listeners to demand diamond rings from their future fiancés.

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Russia and West join forces to tackle trade in ‘blood diamonds’ despite feud over Moscow’s diamonds – by Edith M. Lederer (Associated Press – April 4, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and its Western allies are feuding with Russia over its diamond production, but they joined forces Wednesday to keep supporting the Kimberley Process, which aims to eliminate the trade in “blood diamonds” that helped fuel devastating conflicts in Africa.

At a U.N. General Assembly meeting, its 193 member nations adopted a resolution by consensus recognizing that the Kimberley Process, which certifies rough diamond exports, “contributes to the prevention of conflicts fueled by diamonds” and helps the Security Council implement sanctions on the trade in conflict diamonds.

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