Russian Alrosa in talks with Tiffany on premium color diamonds

Russia’s top diamond producer Alrosa is in talks with Tiffany & Co on the supply of small sized rough diamonds of premium colors, Alrosa CEO Sergei Ivanov has said.

“We have a long standing good relationship with Tiffany. They value and have been buying Russian diamonds of a certain range,” Ivanov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying on Friday.
“They have additional needs, so we are in talks with them on premium colors and not just small sized raw materials.

These are diamonds of small sizes, but of very high quality,” he said.

Ivanov did not mention the value of a possible contract, but said that it is “not a major one.”

Diamonds, with different colors, like pink, blue, orange, green and violet, are extremely rare and usually sold at premium prices.

Alrosa mines diamonds in the Russian Republic of Sakha Yakutia and the Arkhangelsk Region. Last year it produced 36.7 million carats of rough diamonds and its revenue from sales of diamond products amounted to 300 billion rubles 4.63 billion U.S. dollars.

After a series of one off supply deals with Laurelton Diamonds, a subsidiary of Tiffany & Co, Alrosa signed in 2012 a long-term supply contract with it, Alrosa said on its website. It did not disclose details of the deals.

Source: DCLA

Russian Alrosa in talks with Tiffany on premium color diamonds

Russia’s top diamond producer Alrosa is in talks with Tiffany & Co on the supply of small sized rough diamonds of premium colors, Alrosa CEO Sergei Ivanov has said.

“We have a long standing good relationship with Tiffany. They value and have been buying Russian diamonds of a certain range,” Ivanov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying on Friday.
“They have additional needs, so we are in talks with them on premium colors and not just small sized raw materials.

These are diamonds of small sizes, but of very high quality,” he said.

Ivanov did not mention the value of a possible contract, but said that it is “not a major one.”

Diamonds, with different colors, like pink, blue, orange, green and violet, are extremely rare and usually sold at premium prices.

Alrosa mines diamonds in the Russian Republic of Sakha Yakutia and the Arkhangelsk Region. Last year it produced 36.7 million carats of rough diamonds and its revenue from sales of diamond products amounted to 300 billion rubles 4.63 billion U.S. dollars.

After a series of one off supply deals with Laurelton Diamonds, a subsidiary of Tiffany & Co, Alrosa signed in 2012 a long-term supply contract with it, Alrosa said on its website. It did not disclose details of the deals.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds nets $8.8 million for 13.3 carat pink

Africa-focused Gem Diamonds has sold a 13.33 carat pink diamond recovered at its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho last month for $8.8 million.

The high quality pink colour type I diamond sold at a tender in Antwerp, Belgium, achieving a record price per carat of almost $657,000.

The Letšeng mine is well known for yielding some extraordinary diamonds, At an average elevation of 3,100 metres above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

According to market analysts, the average price for pink, yellow, blue and green stones has risen consistently by 12% a year over the last few decades, driven by consumer demand for exotic and unusual diamonds. This means they are less affected by other factors driving general diamonds’ supply and demand.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds nets $8.8 million for 13.3 carat pink

Africa-focused Gem Diamonds has sold a 13.33 carat pink diamond recovered at its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho last month for $8.8 million.

The high quality pink colour type I diamond sold at a tender in Antwerp, Belgium, achieving a record price per carat of almost $657,000.

The Letšeng mine is well known for yielding some extraordinary diamonds, At an average elevation of 3,100 metres above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

According to market analysts, the average price for pink, yellow, blue and green stones has risen consistently by 12% a year over the last few decades, driven by consumer demand for exotic and unusual diamonds. This means they are less affected by other factors driving general diamonds’ supply and demand.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds posts record results, but withholds dividend

Shares in Africa focused Gem Diamonds took a hit on Wednesday as the miner disappointed investors by withholding its full year dividend, citing uncertainty about the global diamond industry as one of the main reasons.

The London-listed miner, which reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large diamonds, said it had decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend,“following a review of the current state of the global market.”

The company’s stock dropped as much as 7.8% to 88.6p on the news and was still trading lower (-6.25%) in London mid-afternoon,  extending its year to date decline to around 19%.

The diamond miner reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large stones, but decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend.Gem Diamonds reported a profit for the year of about $47 million, significantly more than the almost $21 million achieved, before exceptional items, in 2017.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from $48.6 million in 2017 to $82.3 million in 2018, while earnings a share surged from 6.56c to 18.8c in the same period.

Gem Diamonds recovered 126,875 carats from its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the world’s highest dollar per carat diamond mine. Average value achieved was $2,131/ct or 10% more than the previous year.
The miner gets 80% of its revenue from diamonds larger than 10 carats, and 11% of its income comes from diamonds ranging between five and 10 carats in size. The balance of revenue is brought by smaller diamonds.
Thanks to that structure, it was not as exposed to the effects of weak prices and demand for tinier, lower-value stones as its peers, including De Beers, Alrosa and Petra Diamonds.

Gem, in fact, sold a total of 125,111 carats during the 2018 financial year, generating revenue of $267.3 million.
Letšeng mine produced a record 15 diamonds larger than 100 carats, including its largest ever diamond, the 910-carat “Lesotho Legend”, which sold for $40 million. The precious rock was the fifth largest ever found.
Since acquiring the operation in 2006, Gem Diamonds has found five of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recovered, which makes the mine the world’s highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond operation.

At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

The biggest diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan, dug near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. It was later cut into several stones, including the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, which are part of Britain’s Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds posts record results, but withholds dividend

Shares in Africa focused Gem Diamonds took a hit on Wednesday as the miner disappointed investors by withholding its full year dividend, citing uncertainty about the global diamond industry as one of the main reasons.

The London-listed miner, which reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large diamonds, said it had decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend,“following a review of the current state of the global market.”

The company’s stock dropped as much as 7.8% to 88.6p on the news and was still trading lower (-6.25%) in London mid-afternoon,  extending its year to date decline to around 19%.

The diamond miner reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large stones, but decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend.Gem Diamonds reported a profit for the year of about $47 million, significantly more than the almost $21 million achieved, before exceptional items, in 2017.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from $48.6 million in 2017 to $82.3 million in 2018, while earnings a share surged from 6.56c to 18.8c in the same period.

Gem Diamonds recovered 126,875 carats from its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the world’s highest dollar per carat diamond mine. Average value achieved was $2,131/ct or 10% more than the previous year.
The miner gets 80% of its revenue from diamonds larger than 10 carats, and 11% of its income comes from diamonds ranging between five and 10 carats in size. The balance of revenue is brought by smaller diamonds.
Thanks to that structure, it was not as exposed to the effects of weak prices and demand for tinier, lower-value stones as its peers, including De Beers, Alrosa and Petra Diamonds.

Gem, in fact, sold a total of 125,111 carats during the 2018 financial year, generating revenue of $267.3 million.
Letšeng mine produced a record 15 diamonds larger than 100 carats, including its largest ever diamond, the 910-carat “Lesotho Legend”, which sold for $40 million. The precious rock was the fifth largest ever found.
Since acquiring the operation in 2006, Gem Diamonds has found five of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recovered, which makes the mine the world’s highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond operation.

At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

The biggest diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan, dug near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. It was later cut into several stones, including the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, which are part of Britain’s Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London.

Source: DCLA

Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds has found a 100.83 carat gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The D colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.

The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine.“The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” Petra said.

The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said that both stones would be included in its upcoming March tender.

Shares climbed as much as 10.5% after the announcement, closing at 21.2p in London on Friday.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand Cullinan, where the world’s biggest ever diamond was found in 1905.

Source: DCLA