Diamond Trading Goes Online as Lucara Takes on Industry Goliaths

The opaque diamond trade may be ripe for disruption.

Lucara Diamond, which recently found the second-largest diamond in history in Botswana, is taking on industry giants such as De Beers and Alrosa PJSC with an online platform to replace the current physical auctions.

The service allows Lucara to match buyers’ requirements, not only saving jewelers the trouble of traveling to Botswana but also ending the practice of buying stones by the bucket. They typically can only use some, and then have to sell the rest on the secondary market.

“For the first time ever, manufacturers buy only what they want, they don’t have to carry all this extra inventory,” Eira Thomas, Lucara’s chief executive officer, said in an interview in Stockholm. “The large integrated jewelry companies don’t want to be in the business of secondary trading. They’re just trying to source diamonds for their own products.”

In a series of trials, Vancouver, Canada-based Lucara claims that prices were 8 percent over Lucara’s traditional market price. It’s now trying to bring other independent producers on board, with the aim of moving at least a portion of the $18 billion annual diamond trade onto its site called Clara.

Whether Lucara will be able to attract major producers to use its system remains to be seen. De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, is famous for its tight control over the diamond market and has relied on its own system of selling gems for decades.

“If we can get to $1.5 billion transacted through the platform, the cash flow we generate from Clara will be as important as the cash flow we generate from the mine,” Thomas said. “We’re taking baby steps right now, but each quarter we’ll report, we expect the volume to increase.”

Clara incorporates blockchain technology, which is seen as a promising avenue for an industry that has been plagued by ethical problems, including the trade in so-called “blood diamonds” used to finance armed conflicts. Lucara is far from the only miner who has seen the benefits of the digital ledger in guaranteeing the provenance of its product.

De Beers has launched Tracr, a platform aiming to increase the traceability of diamonds using blockchain. That pilot program was joined by Russia’s Alrosa, another giant in the business, in October last year.

Lucara’s Clara uses similar technology, but its main purpose is to match buyers and sellers. While it’s difficult to judge Clara in an early stage, Ola Sodermark, an equity analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, sees potential in the initiative. The key is to get more producers to join the platform, he said.

“Lucara’s own volumes aren’t sufficient to make this fly,” he said. “The question is whether they’re too early with this technology, or if the market is ready for it.”

Lucara was founded by Thomas in 2007, together with Catherine McLeod Seltzer and current chairman Lukas H. Lundin, whose family oversees a commodities empire that includes stakes in oil, gold and solar power across the globe. The Lundin family holds an 18 percent stake in the company through the investment company Nemesia Sarl.

Source: DCLA

Diamond Trading Goes Online as Lucara Takes on Industry Goliaths

The opaque diamond trade may be ripe for disruption.

Lucara Diamond, which recently found the second-largest diamond in history in Botswana, is taking on industry giants such as De Beers and Alrosa PJSC with an online platform to replace the current physical auctions.

The service allows Lucara to match buyers’ requirements, not only saving jewelers the trouble of traveling to Botswana but also ending the practice of buying stones by the bucket. They typically can only use some, and then have to sell the rest on the secondary market.

“For the first time ever, manufacturers buy only what they want, they don’t have to carry all this extra inventory,” Eira Thomas, Lucara’s chief executive officer, said in an interview in Stockholm. “The large integrated jewelry companies don’t want to be in the business of secondary trading. They’re just trying to source diamonds for their own products.”

In a series of trials, Vancouver, Canada-based Lucara claims that prices were 8 percent over Lucara’s traditional market price. It’s now trying to bring other independent producers on board, with the aim of moving at least a portion of the $18 billion annual diamond trade onto its site called Clara.

Whether Lucara will be able to attract major producers to use its system remains to be seen. De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, is famous for its tight control over the diamond market and has relied on its own system of selling gems for decades.

“If we can get to $1.5 billion transacted through the platform, the cash flow we generate from Clara will be as important as the cash flow we generate from the mine,” Thomas said. “We’re taking baby steps right now, but each quarter we’ll report, we expect the volume to increase.”

Clara incorporates blockchain technology, which is seen as a promising avenue for an industry that has been plagued by ethical problems, including the trade in so-called “blood diamonds” used to finance armed conflicts. Lucara is far from the only miner who has seen the benefits of the digital ledger in guaranteeing the provenance of its product.

De Beers has launched Tracr, a platform aiming to increase the traceability of diamonds using blockchain. That pilot program was joined by Russia’s Alrosa, another giant in the business, in October last year.

Lucara’s Clara uses similar technology, but its main purpose is to match buyers and sellers. While it’s difficult to judge Clara in an early stage, Ola Sodermark, an equity analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, sees potential in the initiative. The key is to get more producers to join the platform, he said.

“Lucara’s own volumes aren’t sufficient to make this fly,” he said. “The question is whether they’re too early with this technology, or if the market is ready for it.”

Lucara was founded by Thomas in 2007, together with Catherine McLeod Seltzer and current chairman Lukas H. Lundin, whose family oversees a commodities empire that includes stakes in oil, gold and solar power across the globe. The Lundin family holds an 18 percent stake in the company through the investment company Nemesia Sarl.

Source: DCLA

China Bourse to Promote Lab-Grown Diamonds

The Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (GZDE) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s major synthetics suppliers to develop and promote lab-grown diamonds in the country.

The parties signed the contract last week during a forum on the benefits of synthetic stones that took place during the 2019 China International, Gold Jewellery & Gem Fair in Shenzhen.

The partnership is an effort to provide consistent demand for lab-grown diamonds in China’s fluctuating market, GZDE, which is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, said Tuesday.

“The high-tech genes of lab-grown diamonds, the ability [for] stable supply, and its outstanding appearance, [which is the] same as natural diamonds, have opened a window for this new material,” said GZDE chairman Zhu Yongsheng. “In addition to the innovative application in jewelry through creative design, it could [create] cross-border development with other industries.”

The GZDE will promote lab-grown-diamond trading as a separate business, with synthetics dealers using a new GZDE logo that references them as a lab-grown seller, the exchange added.

Clarification, April 28, 2019: This story has been updated to clarify that the Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

Image: Lab-grown diamond exhibit at the forum. Guangzhou Diamond Exchange

Source: Diamonds.net

China Bourse to Promote Lab-Grown Diamonds

The Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (GZDE) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s major synthetics suppliers to develop and promote lab-grown diamonds in the country.

The parties signed the contract last week during a forum on the benefits of synthetic stones that took place during the 2019 China International, Gold Jewellery & Gem Fair in Shenzhen.

The partnership is an effort to provide consistent demand for lab-grown diamonds in China’s fluctuating market, GZDE, which is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, said Tuesday.

“The high-tech genes of lab-grown diamonds, the ability [for] stable supply, and its outstanding appearance, [which is the] same as natural diamonds, have opened a window for this new material,” said GZDE chairman Zhu Yongsheng. “In addition to the innovative application in jewelry through creative design, it could [create] cross-border development with other industries.”

The GZDE will promote lab-grown-diamond trading as a separate business, with synthetics dealers using a new GZDE logo that references them as a lab-grown seller, the exchange added.

Clarification, April 28, 2019: This story has been updated to clarify that the Guangzhou Diamond Exchange is not a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

Image: Lab-grown diamond exhibit at the forum. Guangzhou Diamond Exchange

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucara Diamond Corp. Recovers Record 1,758 Carat Diamond from Karowe

A giant 1,758-carat diamond, the second-biggest ever discovered, has been found in Botswana. But unlike its rivals, it won’t fetch a record-breaking price.

Lucara Diamond Corp. said it unearthed the stone — roughly the size of a tennis ball — at its Karowe project in Botswana, a mine renowned for its huge gems including the previous holder of the No. 2 position. Still, the company said the diamond is a near gem of variable quality, meaning it won’t yield incredibly valuable polished diamonds on par with earlier finds.

Lucara’s Karowe mine is becoming famous for giant stones. In 2015, Lucara found the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, which at the time was the second-largest ever and eventually sold for $53 million. The mine has also yielded a 813-carat stone that fetched a record $63 million. Those two gems were both much more valuable Type-IIa stones.

Still, the latest find shows that Karowe’s plant can process and detect huge gems without breaking them, a consistent headache when trying to separate brittle stones from hundreds of tons of waste rock.

“Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater than 1,000 carats in just four years, affirming the coarse nature of the resource and the likelihood of recovering additional, large, high quality diamonds in the future,” Eira Thomas, Lucara’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Lucara, based in Vancouver, Canada, rose as much as 12 percent, the most in a year.

The biggest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into several polished gems, the two largest of which — the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa — are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.

Source: DCLA

Lucara Diamond Corp. Recovers Record 1,758 Carat Diamond from Karowe

A giant 1,758-carat diamond, the second-biggest ever discovered, has been found in Botswana. But unlike its rivals, it won’t fetch a record-breaking price.

Lucara Diamond Corp. said it unearthed the stone — roughly the size of a tennis ball — at its Karowe project in Botswana, a mine renowned for its huge gems including the previous holder of the No. 2 position. Still, the company said the diamond is a near gem of variable quality, meaning it won’t yield incredibly valuable polished diamonds on par with earlier finds.

Lucara’s Karowe mine is becoming famous for giant stones. In 2015, Lucara found the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, which at the time was the second-largest ever and eventually sold for $53 million. The mine has also yielded a 813-carat stone that fetched a record $63 million. Those two gems were both much more valuable Type-IIa stones.

Still, the latest find shows that Karowe’s plant can process and detect huge gems without breaking them, a consistent headache when trying to separate brittle stones from hundreds of tons of waste rock.

“Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater than 1,000 carats in just four years, affirming the coarse nature of the resource and the likelihood of recovering additional, large, high quality diamonds in the future,” Eira Thomas, Lucara’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Lucara, based in Vancouver, Canada, rose as much as 12 percent, the most in a year.

The biggest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into several polished gems, the two largest of which — the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa — are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.

Source: DCLA

ALROSA recovers “Zarya” a 119 carat gem quality stone

Alrosa revealed a 118.91 carat gem quality diamond that is recovered from its “International” mine, which is located close to the town of Mirny in the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation.

The company said that stone, which was found on April 16, is the largest gem-quality diamond on found at the International pipe in the past two years. A similar, large gem-quality diamond, weighing 109.61 carats, was mined here in the summer of 2017.

The newly mined light yellow rough diamond has “salient edges, one of them with cleavage, and small inclusions in the central zone,” the firm said in a news release

“This crystal is unique as it has a large clean area despite the inclusions in the center – this makes it a gem-quality diamond. Well known hallmarks of the diamonds from the International kimberlite pipe are regular shapes and purity.

That is exactly the pipe that most often brings ALROSA regular shape octahedrons with smooth edges,” explained Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Selling Organization at ALROSA.

Source:  DCLA