Wednesday, 24 July 2019

Don’t punish African diamond producing countries without cause, WFDB President says



In his first -ever blog, Ernest Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, argues that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is slow because one of the most hot potatoes is ignored.
The KPCS, he wrote,is one of the great accomplishments of the worldwide diamond community of the last two decades, as more than 99.5 percent of the diamonds produced fall under a certification regime.
On the question why the KPCS agenda is moving so slowly, Blom says there is an elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge. “Of course, consuming nations have the right to demand that the strongest possible control mechanisms to guarantee that the diamonds imported into their countries are not tainted by any form of abuse. The same is also true for producing nations. They are entitled to protect the interests of their natural resources, ” Blom wrote.
“So what should producers say – in the interest of their nation – when large retail companies make an announcement that certain countries’ production is not allowed to be sold through them?” he asked . “Any decision taken at the KP or elsewhere affects the entire diamond industry, from mining to the manufacturers and dealers as well as to the smallest retail shop, which affects the lives of tens of millions of people.”
“It should not come as a surprise to anyone in Southern Africa that the enthusiasm to comply with what is perceived as a new form of economic colonialism is pretty limited. When countries are asked to make rules which could hurt them immediately once agreed upon it is difficult to find common ground.”
“If KP Participants are faced with “prima facie” judgments by large corporations and feel the enormous commercial consequences in their supply chain – and this without any written rule or law – then one should not be surprised at their reluctance to have a rule adopted in a formal manner and included in the KP Core Document.” Blom continued and said that there should be a rule in the current definition of conflict diamonds that includes any systemic violence.
At the same time, the objective analysis of facts should be the cornerstone of verification of allegations, and “trial by media” cannot be part of that solution. “This is the elephant that the Indian KP Chair has to ride. If he can do that successfully and neutralize what is perceived as a real threat of becoming excluded, he will have accomplished what many have failed to achieve in the past 10 years. From the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, we wish Shri Alok Vardan Chaturvedi lots of luck in this major task.”
Source: DCLA

Don’t punish African diamond producing countries without cause, WFDB President says



In his first -ever blog, Ernest Blom, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, argues that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is slow because one of the most hot potatoes is ignored.
The KPCS, he wrote,is one of the great accomplishments of the worldwide diamond community of the last two decades, as more than 99.5 percent of the diamonds produced fall under a certification regime.
On the question why the KPCS agenda is moving so slowly, Blom says there is an elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge. “Of course, consuming nations have the right to demand that the strongest possible control mechanisms to guarantee that the diamonds imported into their countries are not tainted by any form of abuse. The same is also true for producing nations. They are entitled to protect the interests of their natural resources, ” Blom wrote.
“So what should producers say – in the interest of their nation – when large retail companies make an announcement that certain countries’ production is not allowed to be sold through them?” he asked . “Any decision taken at the KP or elsewhere affects the entire diamond industry, from mining to the manufacturers and dealers as well as to the smallest retail shop, which affects the lives of tens of millions of people.”
“It should not come as a surprise to anyone in Southern Africa that the enthusiasm to comply with what is perceived as a new form of economic colonialism is pretty limited. When countries are asked to make rules which could hurt them immediately once agreed upon it is difficult to find common ground.”
“If KP Participants are faced with “prima facie” judgments by large corporations and feel the enormous commercial consequences in their supply chain – and this without any written rule or law – then one should not be surprised at their reluctance to have a rule adopted in a formal manner and included in the KP Core Document.” Blom continued and said that there should be a rule in the current definition of conflict diamonds that includes any systemic violence.
At the same time, the objective analysis of facts should be the cornerstone of verification of allegations, and “trial by media” cannot be part of that solution. “This is the elephant that the Indian KP Chair has to ride. If he can do that successfully and neutralize what is perceived as a real threat of becoming excluded, he will have accomplished what many have failed to achieve in the past 10 years. From the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, we wish Shri Alok Vardan Chaturvedi lots of luck in this major task.”
Source: DCLA

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Tango Averages $1.4K/ct. at Rough Sale


Tango Mining sold a 19.87-carat rough diamond for $4,358 per carat, one of a number of high-value stones up for tender from its Oena project in South Africa.
The miner sold 230 stones totaling 531.82 carats from its May 9 to July 7 production. It achieved an average price of $1,382 per carat for rough at the sale.
The company also sold a 49.6-carat diamond for $2,561 per carat, a 16.65-carat rough for $2,126 per carat, and a 24.97-carat stone for $1,101 per carat.
In addition, Tango is conducting trial mining in Angola and an exploration project in Liberia.
Source: DCLA

Tango Averages $1.4K/ct. at Rough Sale


Tango Mining sold a 19.87-carat rough diamond for $4,358 per carat, one of a number of high-value stones up for tender from its Oena project in South Africa.
The miner sold 230 stones totaling 531.82 carats from its May 9 to July 7 production. It achieved an average price of $1,382 per carat for rough at the sale.
The company also sold a 49.6-carat diamond for $2,561 per carat, a 16.65-carat rough for $2,126 per carat, and a 24.97-carat stone for $1,101 per carat.
In addition, Tango is conducting trial mining in Angola and an exploration project in Liberia.
Source: DCLA

Monday, 22 July 2019

Belgium Trade Cuts Diamond-Research Funding


The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) will no longer provide financial backing to the city’s diamond-technology unit, citing difficult conditions in the local industry.
“As a result of the high cost of labor in our country, almost the entirety of our diamond manufacturing has relocated abroad,” AWDC spokeswoman Margaux Donckier said Friday.
The AWDC established the Scientific and Technical Research Center for Diamond (WTOCD) in 1977 to support the Belgian diamond-manufacturing sector. The venture was created to improve Antwerp’s competitive position in the global industry, and to develop and implement products for the trade.
“The market for these high-quality machines in Antwerp continues to shrink,” Donckier noted. “They are also too hi-tech, and too expensive, for the majority of polishing units in low-wage countries.”
Those factors have put WTOCD in a difficult situation, Donckier explained. AWDC tried to work with the research center on Fenix, a new, fully automated diamond-polishing process that it believed would offer a competitive edge to Antwerp’s diamond industry. However, the technology, which had been set to debut last September, is still not ready.
“The technology has the potential to spark a revolution in diamond polishing, but at this point we recognize that additional investments are needed to ready the product for the market,” Donckier added, stressing that AWDC cannot afford to invest more given the state of the market.
During the course of its operations, WTOCD created synthetics-detection equipment, such as the M-Screen+ machine, which is sold by HRD Antwerp.
Source: DCLA

Belgium Trade Cuts Diamond-Research Funding


The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) will no longer provide financial backing to the city’s diamond-technology unit, citing difficult conditions in the local industry.
“As a result of the high cost of labor in our country, almost the entirety of our diamond manufacturing has relocated abroad,” AWDC spokeswoman Margaux Donckier said Friday.
The AWDC established the Scientific and Technical Research Center for Diamond (WTOCD) in 1977 to support the Belgian diamond-manufacturing sector. The venture was created to improve Antwerp’s competitive position in the global industry, and to develop and implement products for the trade.
“The market for these high-quality machines in Antwerp continues to shrink,” Donckier noted. “They are also too hi-tech, and too expensive, for the majority of polishing units in low-wage countries.”
Those factors have put WTOCD in a difficult situation, Donckier explained. AWDC tried to work with the research center on Fenix, a new, fully automated diamond-polishing process that it believed would offer a competitive edge to Antwerp’s diamond industry. However, the technology, which had been set to debut last September, is still not ready.
“The technology has the potential to spark a revolution in diamond polishing, but at this point we recognize that additional investments are needed to ready the product for the market,” Donckier added, stressing that AWDC cannot afford to invest more given the state of the market.
During the course of its operations, WTOCD created synthetics-detection equipment, such as the M-Screen+ machine, which is sold by HRD Antwerp.
Source: DCLA

Sunday, 21 July 2019

Lucara Names 1,758ct. Diamond ‘Rare Find’



Botswana’s largest rough diamond now has a name, following a public contest held by Lucara Diamond Corp.
The company chose to call the 1,758-carat stone Sewelô, which means “rare find” in the local Setswana language. It was the winning entry from more than 22,000 submissions.
“The largest diamond recovered in Botswana’s history was named by the people of Botswana this evening in a celebration of Botswana’s success,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said last week.
The miner has completed its analysis of the diamond — which it recovered in April from the Karowe mine’s high-value south lobe — and is considering its sale options, Thomas added.
Lucara announced the new name during a gala event, at which Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi was present.
Source: Diamonds.net

Tiffany Buys Back Titanic Watch for Record $1.97m

Tiffany & Co paid a record $1.97m for a gold pocket watch it made in 1912, and which was gifted to the captain of a ship that rescued mo...