Twitter

Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Anglo Ditching De Beers Is Hard Blow for Troubled Diamond Market – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – May 14, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The diamond industry has already been feeling the heat. Prices have slumped, Russian sanctions are threatening trade and the emergence of lab-grown gems is eating into some key traditional markets. Now, the sector’s most dominant name is being cast adrift.

Anglo American Plc on Tuesday said it will spin off or sell its De Beers business, ending an almost century-long relationship with the industry’s most famous name. The move, part of a wide12)r restructuring to fend off a $43 billion approach from BHP Group, is a seismic shock for the diamond world.

Read more

Lucapa to sell majority stake in Lesotho diamond mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 15, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX: LOM) has put its 70% stake in the Mothae mine in Lesotho up for sale to focus on its core assets and is discussing options for the 30% held by the country’s government.

The diamond miner’s board said it was “considering all options for the divestment” and finalizing a data room for interested parties. “On review, it is clear the company should streamline the portfolio to focus on our core assets in Africa and Australia,” chairman Stuart Brown said in the statement.

Read more

Anglo American to sell De Beers, Amplats to fend off BHP’s bid – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Northern Miner – May 14, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Anglo American (LON: AAL), the takeover target of mining giant BHP (ASX: BHP), has ceded to pressure from investors announcing plans to sell some of its legacy assets in an attempt to protect itself from current and future bids.

The sweeping break up plan, disclosed on Tuesday, will see Anglo American sell its diamond business De Beers, its South Africa-based Anglo American Platinum — Amplats — (JSE: AMS) and its steelmaking coal assets.

Read more

Botswana Vows to Protect Interests in Potential BHP-Anglo Deal – by Mbongeni Mguni (Bloomberg News – May 9, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect the country’s interests, including its 15% stake in diamond giant De Beers, should BHP Group Ltd. acquire Anglo American Plc.

Anglo, which rejected a BHP proposal valuing the mining company at about $39 billion, owns the other 85% of De Beers. Under the proposed deal, BHP — once a major diamond producer itself — said that De Beers would be put on a strategic review. Anglo, the only major miner with a big diamond business, has already been reviewing the future of units including De Beers.

Read more

Cecil John Rhodes: Life and Legacy of a British Imperialist – by Greg Beyer (The Collerctor – May 8, 2024)

https://www.thecollector.com/

One of the greatest imperialists of the British Empire, Cecil John Rhodes’ legacy is today considered highly problematic.

Cecil John Rhodes is a historical figure who has generated huge amounts of debate, not just in South Africa, where he lived much of his life, but across much of the Anglosphere, where his name continues to bear considerable weight and influence.

He was indeed a powerful man who advanced and industrialized parts of the world, bringing colonial progress, wealth, and success to lands under his influence. However, his legacy in the English-speaking world has come under intense scrutiny as those whose ancestors benefitted from his imperialism are made aware of the dark side of his methods.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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

Home

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.

Read more

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

Home

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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

Front Page

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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

Home

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).

Read more

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.

Read more