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Diamonds – Mining, Lab-Grown and Conflict/Blood

Israel’s Diamond Trade Is Stuck Between Two Crises – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – February 8, 2024)

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The global downturn is a bigger challenge for the market than the war is, says bourse president Boaz Moldawsky.

October 7 was supposed to be a joyous day for Boaz Moldawsky, president of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE). His daughter gave birth at 11 p.m. the night before. The Hamas attack on Israel started early the next morning.

Moldawsky was in Tel Aviv when it all kicked off. As many did, he brushed off the first rocket siren at 6:30 a.m. as an ordinary warning that happens from time to time. Within a few hours, it became clear that something more serious was happening. “At the beginning, nobody thought it was something so big,” Moldawsky says. “But after a few hours, we saw the catastrophe.”

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Lab Diamonds Are Too Perfect for Their Own Good – by Amanda Mull (The Atlantic – February 7, 2024)

https://www.theatlantic.com

The traditional diamond industry is thought to be under threat from lab-grown stones. But that’s not how luxury works.

Last year, a funny thing happened at Ring Concierge’s Manhattan showroom. A bride-to-be brought her engagement ring back to the popular jewelry store after wearing it for a few weeks and wanted to trade out her diamond for a worse one.

The woman was worried that the original rock was too clear, too bright, too perfect for its large size, Ring Concierge’s CEO, Nicole Wegman, told me. She wanted to replace it with a lower-quality stone of a similar size—something a little less bright white.

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Surat’s Shining Moment: India’s ‘DREAM’ Destination to Transform Surat into Global Diamond Trade Centre – by Shubhangi Sharma (News 18.com – February 7, 2024)

https://www.news18.com/

The business landscape of Surat, India’s Diamond City, is on the brink of a great leap forward steered by the colossal Surat Diamond Bourse and a new international airport. Already bustling with exceptionally vibrant business activity, Surat is gearing up to chart greater heights globally with its diamond prowess in focus.

Surat Airport in Gujarat was officially granted the status of an ‘International Airport’ after being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 17. This development marks the third international airport in Gujarat, alongside Ahmedabad and Rajkot, and holds significant potential for India’s prominent diamond industry.

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Angola’s diamond sparkle brightened by new De Beers deal – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 6, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) ­– Diamond mining and marketing company De Beers is to collaborate with Angola on opportunities to increase diamond production, support alluvial mining sector and enhance social development for the benefit of Angola’s citizens.

De Beers on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Angola’s National Mineral Resource Agency, Angola’s State-owned Endiama diamond company, and Angola’s State-owned Sodiam diamond trading company, to support these objectives.

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The fatal plane crash in the Northwest Territories this week was rare – but the journey to remote mines is always perilous – by Mike Hager, Niall McGee and Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – January 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After a few months or years of working rotating shifts at the Diavik Diamond Mine, flying to the site can become routine.

Employees file into a twin-propeller plane, exchange small talk with the crew and then tend to put their earbuds in and try to catch some shut-eye before their shifts, says Sean Farmer, a pilot who until recently worked with Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. Mr. Farmer flew all over the North, including twice-monthly flights between Fort Smith, NWT, and the Diavik mine, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

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Multiple fatalities reported in crash of plane carrying Rio Tinto mine workers – by Mike Hager and Xiao Xu (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A plane carrying workers to a Rio Tinto diamond mine in the Northwest Territories has crashed just above the border with Alberta, killing multiple passengers.

A spokesman for the multinational company did not say how many miners have died in the Tuesday morning crash but confirmed late that evening “a number of our people” were on a flight to the Diavik mine when it came down near the town of Fort Smith, where local authorities prepared the hospital to receive multiple wounded patients.

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Kremlin’s blood diamonds on the EU sanctions list – by Michał Kacewicz (Belsat.eu – January 20, 2024)

https://belsat.eu/en/

Diamonds have always been a crucial source of income for Russia, the world’s largest producer. Following two years of war, the EU has finally imposed sanctions on Russian diamonds and related businesses. The European Union has recently introduced the twelfth round of sanctions against Russia in response to its full-scale aggression towards Ukraine.

The sanctions were approved in December and came into effect at the beginning of this year. As part of this strategy, non-industrial diamonds mainly used to make jewelry and mined and processed in Russia cannot be imported into the EU. The ban applies to Alrosa, the leading Russian diamond producer and exporter. The Director of Alrosa, Pavel Marinychev, has been blacklisted and banned from entering EU countries.

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Burgundy enters Canadian diamond scene – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – January 18, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Precious stone mines saw some shuffling in Canada’s North with Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd.’s acquisition of the Ekati diamond mine.

Already a 40% partner with North Arrow Minerals Inc. at the Naujaat diamond project in Nunavut, Burgundy closed its buyout of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. on July 4, which gave the Australian diamond company full ownership of the world-class Ekati Mine and significantly elevating its efforts to deliver high-end cut and polished diamonds mined in Canada’s Arctic to global markets.

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De Beers Cuts Diamond Prices to Revive Sales – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – January 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — De Beers made big cuts to its diamond prices as the world’s top producer tries to revive gem sales after the market ground to a halt last year.

The industry almost came to a complete standstill in the second half of 2023 as the two biggest miners all but stopped supplies in a desperate attempt to stem a collapse in prices. While those efforts helped the market to pick up a bit, it’s unclear how much appetite trade buyers currently have.

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EU adds Russia’s biggest diamond-mining company and CEO to sanctions list – by Mared Gwyn Jones (Euronews – January 3, 2024)

https://www.euronews.com/

PJSC Alrosa, which is owned by the Russian state, accounts for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, representing a highly valuable revenue stream for the Kremlin.

The EU said Wednesday that Alrosa and its CEO Marinychev had been added to the list of sanctioned persons and entities for “actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” “The company constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the government of the Russian Federation,” it added.

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Italian Grading Lab Warns of Synthetic-Diamond Scam – by Leah Meirovich (Rapaport Magazine – December 26, 2023)

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Italian gemological lab Gem-Tech has warned the trade that a number of lab-grown diamonds circulating in the country are being sold as natural.

Three stones were submitted to the lab accompanied by certificates from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) stating they were natural, Gem-Tech said last week. Gem-Tech weighed the stones and found them to be nearly identical to those recorded on the GIA certificates.

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A New Dawn for the Botswana Diamond Industry – by Avi Krawitz (Rapaport Magazine – December 21, 2023)

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The country is at a pivotal point in its diamond journey, with the new deal between De Beers and the government seen as a catalyst for growth.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi paused for a moment after stepping up to the podium to address the annual Natural Diamond Summit in Gaborone.

As he looked through the marquee venue, aptly known as the Diamond Dome, with its intentionally earthy décor, Masisi appeared measured. The speech he was about to give was his first major address to a broader De Beers-organized audience since the government announced its landmark deal with the company on June 30.

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Diamond Sales Slowly Restart After Efforts to Halt Price Crash – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – December 18, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s two biggest diamond miners are selling stones again after the industry all but halted supplies in a desperate attempt to stop a collapse in prices.

This year’s rout that was driven by swelling inventories forced the sector to take radical steps to support the market. Russia’s Alrosa PJSC in September halted all sales for two months, and was followed by buyers in India — the dominant cutting and trading center — voluntarily banning imports. De Beers allowed its customers to refuse all gems they’re contracted to buy.

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G7 to sanction Russian diamonds as of January – by LAURA HÜLSEMANN AND BARBARA MOENS (Politico EU – December 6, 2023)

https://www.politico.eu/

Russian diamonds are one of the last resources not sanctioned by the G7, meaning the profits from selling them can go into the Kremlin’s war chest.

G7 leaders on Wednesday agreed to impose a direct import ban on Russian diamonds as of January, while introducing a tracing system for diamonds during next year.

Russian diamonds are one of the last resources not sanctioned by the G7, meaning the profits from selling them can go into the Kremlin’s war chest.

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Opinion: Diamonds may be forever but diamond mines aren’t. N.W.T. needs to find a replacement fast – by Darrell Beaulieu, Paul Gruner and Heather Exner-Pirot (Financial Post – December 6, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Premier and cabinet need to make clear N.W.T. is open for other kinds of mining and will ease investors’ way

Although it wasn’t much noticed in the rest of Canada, the Northwest Territories had an election last month. Worn down by a series of crises, people voted for change: about half of the MLAs-elect are new. They picked a hard time to get into government.

Compared to what’s coming next, COVID-19 and record-breaking wildfires might not look so bad. The territory’s diamond mining industry, which represents over a quarter of its GDP, is coming to its natural end. And as things stand there is no plan to replace it.

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