Lucara finds another big diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana

Lucara Diamond has unearthed a 123-carat, gem-quality, top white Type II diamond at its Karowe mine, in Botswana, the same operation where it found the largest precious rock ever found in the African country.

The stone was recovered from direct milling ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe, the same area that yielded the famous “Lesedi La Rona.” The giant 1,109 carat diamond, however, was a hard sell for Lucara. Its buyer, Graff Diamonds ended up cutting it into smaller stones.

Karowe, which began commercial operations in 2012, has this year yielded 22 diamonds larger than 100 carats, eight of them exceeding 200 carats.

The mine also yielded the 1,758 carat Sewelô meaning “rare find” diamond, the largest ever recovered in Botswana.

The Vancouver-based company also announced it had recovered a 375 carat gem quality diamond during the processing of historic tailings from the mine. Reprocessing has so far yielded 29 diamonds over 100 carats, Lucara said.

Since the start of the year, the miner has sold 19 diamonds each with an individual price in excess of $1 million at its quarterly tender sales. This includes seven diamonds that fetched more than $2 million each, and one diamond that carried a final price tag of over $8 million.

“Lucara is pleased with the continued strong performance of the mine and the consistent recovery of large, high quality diamonds that contribute more than 70% of Lucara’s total revenues,” CEO Eira Thomas said in a statement.

The company, which has focused efforts on the prolific Botswana mine this year, is close to completing a feasibility study into potential underground production and life of mine expansion at Karowe.

Source: DCLA

Lucara finds another big diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana

Lucara Diamond has unearthed a 123-carat, gem-quality, top white Type II diamond at its Karowe mine, in Botswana, the same operation where it found the largest precious rock ever found in the African country.

The stone was recovered from direct milling ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe, the same area that yielded the famous “Lesedi La Rona.” The giant 1,109 carat diamond, however, was a hard sell for Lucara. Its buyer, Graff Diamonds ended up cutting it into smaller stones.

Karowe, which began commercial operations in 2012, has this year yielded 22 diamonds larger than 100 carats, eight of them exceeding 200 carats.

The mine also yielded the 1,758 carat Sewelô meaning “rare find” diamond, the largest ever recovered in Botswana.

The Vancouver-based company also announced it had recovered a 375 carat gem quality diamond during the processing of historic tailings from the mine. Reprocessing has so far yielded 29 diamonds over 100 carats, Lucara said.

Since the start of the year, the miner has sold 19 diamonds each with an individual price in excess of $1 million at its quarterly tender sales. This includes seven diamonds that fetched more than $2 million each, and one diamond that carried a final price tag of over $8 million.

“Lucara is pleased with the continued strong performance of the mine and the consistent recovery of large, high quality diamonds that contribute more than 70% of Lucara’s total revenues,” CEO Eira Thomas said in a statement.

The company, which has focused efforts on the prolific Botswana mine this year, is close to completing a feasibility study into potential underground production and life of mine expansion at Karowe.

Source: DCLA

Alrosa mulls acquisition of diamond factory

Russian diamond miner Alrosa is considering the acquisition of Russia’s largest producer and exporter of polished diamonds, Kristall, which is valued at 1.89 billion ruble.

Kristall processes more than 200 000 ct/y of rough diamonds, with 90% of diamond feedstock supplied by Alrosa.

Krystall Diamonds

“On the back of the increasingly complex economic environment, Kristall has been going through some financial challenges in recent years. However, the business maintains its output volumes boasting rich heritage, state of the art equipment, and extensive expertise in rough diamonds cutting,” said Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov on Tuesday.

He noted that Alrosa was not new cutting and polishing and that its Diamonds Alrosa branch was responsible for about 20% of polished diamonds in Russia. After consolidating Kristall, the group’s share in the Russian market would reach as much as 70%.

“We are quite optimistic about the integration prospects and have already embarked on preparatory work to start joint operations in cutting and sales.

We will focus our efforts on developing new sales channels, including those in the US and Chinese markets, while also improving production efficiency by leveraging the latest diamond processing technologies, automating routine operations, and creating competence hubs to bring together high tech equipment and industry professionals.

We expect that our efforts to merge our cutting facilities will help reduce production costs and, subject to a favourable market environment, take up a considerable share of the market for best in class polished diamonds.”

If approved by the Alrosa supervisory board, the sale and purchase agreement is expected to be signed by the end of this month.

The Kristall diamond factory was founded in Smolensk in 1963. Last year, Kristall production and sales were 105 700 ct and 111 700 ct of polished diamonds, respectively. Its total revenue amounted to 12.8 billion ruble, and net profit reached 40.7 million ruble.

In 2002, Kristall launched its own jewellery production, and the retail chain of Smolensk Diamonds, its jewellery entity, now has over 50 sales points in 30 Russian cities. Kristall’s another entity, Almaz Servis, produces tooling and equipment for the diamond industry.

Source: DCLA

Alrosa mulls acquisition of diamond factory

Russian diamond miner Alrosa is considering the acquisition of Russia’s largest producer and exporter of polished diamonds, Kristall, which is valued at 1.89 billion ruble.

Kristall processes more than 200 000 ct/y of rough diamonds, with 90% of diamond feedstock supplied by Alrosa.

Krystall Diamonds

“On the back of the increasingly complex economic environment, Kristall has been going through some financial challenges in recent years. However, the business maintains its output volumes boasting rich heritage, state of the art equipment, and extensive expertise in rough diamonds cutting,” said Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov on Tuesday.

He noted that Alrosa was not new cutting and polishing and that its Diamonds Alrosa branch was responsible for about 20% of polished diamonds in Russia. After consolidating Kristall, the group’s share in the Russian market would reach as much as 70%.

“We are quite optimistic about the integration prospects and have already embarked on preparatory work to start joint operations in cutting and sales.

We will focus our efforts on developing new sales channels, including those in the US and Chinese markets, while also improving production efficiency by leveraging the latest diamond processing technologies, automating routine operations, and creating competence hubs to bring together high tech equipment and industry professionals.

We expect that our efforts to merge our cutting facilities will help reduce production costs and, subject to a favourable market environment, take up a considerable share of the market for best in class polished diamonds.”

If approved by the Alrosa supervisory board, the sale and purchase agreement is expected to be signed by the end of this month.

The Kristall diamond factory was founded in Smolensk in 1963. Last year, Kristall production and sales were 105 700 ct and 111 700 ct of polished diamonds, respectively. Its total revenue amounted to 12.8 billion ruble, and net profit reached 40.7 million ruble.

In 2002, Kristall launched its own jewellery production, and the retail chain of Smolensk Diamonds, its jewellery entity, now has over 50 sales points in 30 Russian cities. Kristall’s another entity, Almaz Servis, produces tooling and equipment for the diamond industry.

Source: DCLA

Shaky gems market hits Petra Diamonds

Challenging conditions facing the global diamond industry were underlined on Monday after London-listed Petra Diamonds reported widening losses.

Petra said the industry was dealing with its worst market conditions since the financial crisis that began in 2008, as the company reported a full-year loss of $258m.

The global diamond market is struggling with lower prices and an oversupply of stones. In addition US-China tensions and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have hit demand in the industry’s key markets.

“You need a world that’s firing on all cylinders for diamonds to do extremely well,” Richard Hatch, an analyst at Berenberg said. “It’s a luxury, discretionary spend.”

Shares in Petra dropped to a record low of 7.17p on Monday, according to Refinitiv data. They ended the day down 6 per cent at 7.58p.

Stress is being felt across the industry. Last month De Beers, the world’s second-largest diamond producer, said its sales fell 44 per cent from a year earlier. Shares in other listed diamond producers have also sunk this year with Canada-listed Mountain Province Diamonds down 45 per cent and London-listed Gem Diamonds off by 35 per cent.

Petra’s loss included a non-cash impairment charge of $247m due to what the company said was a “more conservative” assumption for diamond prices. It had reported a $203m post-tax loss a year earlier. Revenues fell 6 per cent to $463.6m.

Petra, which runs the Cullinan diamond mine in South Africa, said diamond prices fell 4 per cent in its September tender from the fourth quarter ending in June.

Richard Duffy, who has been chief executive since February, said it would take between 12 to 18 months for the market to stabilise.

“It is a tough market,” Mr Duffy told the Financial Times. “But when it turns, it tends to turn quite quickly.”

Petra now expects that diamond prices will be flat for the next two financial years, rather than up by 3 per cent, above a long-term US inflation rate of 2.5 per cent a year, as previously forecast.

Petra, which also has mines in Tanzania, said it had discussed with its bankers the possibility it might breach certain covenants on its loans this year and next. It said the banks had “reaffirmed” their support.

Mr Duffy said the company would look to reduce its $595m of net debt by improving the efficiency of its mining operations. The company said it had “sufficient liquidity headroom” for at least 12 months.

Source: DCLA

Shaky gems market hits Petra Diamonds

Challenging conditions facing the global diamond industry were underlined on Monday after London-listed Petra Diamonds reported widening losses.

Petra said the industry was dealing with its worst market conditions since the financial crisis that began in 2008, as the company reported a full-year loss of $258m.

The global diamond market is struggling with lower prices and an oversupply of stones. In addition US-China tensions and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have hit demand in the industry’s key markets.

“You need a world that’s firing on all cylinders for diamonds to do extremely well,” Richard Hatch, an analyst at Berenberg said. “It’s a luxury, discretionary spend.”

Shares in Petra dropped to a record low of 7.17p on Monday, according to Refinitiv data. They ended the day down 6 per cent at 7.58p.

Stress is being felt across the industry. Last month De Beers, the world’s second-largest diamond producer, said its sales fell 44 per cent from a year earlier. Shares in other listed diamond producers have also sunk this year with Canada-listed Mountain Province Diamonds down 45 per cent and London-listed Gem Diamonds off by 35 per cent.

Petra’s loss included a non-cash impairment charge of $247m due to what the company said was a “more conservative” assumption for diamond prices. It had reported a $203m post-tax loss a year earlier. Revenues fell 6 per cent to $463.6m.

Petra, which runs the Cullinan diamond mine in South Africa, said diamond prices fell 4 per cent in its September tender from the fourth quarter ending in June.

Richard Duffy, who has been chief executive since February, said it would take between 12 to 18 months for the market to stabilise.

“It is a tough market,” Mr Duffy told the Financial Times. “But when it turns, it tends to turn quite quickly.”

Petra now expects that diamond prices will be flat for the next two financial years, rather than up by 3 per cent, above a long-term US inflation rate of 2.5 per cent a year, as previously forecast.

Petra, which also has mines in Tanzania, said it had discussed with its bankers the possibility it might breach certain covenants on its loans this year and next. It said the banks had “reaffirmed” their support.

Mr Duffy said the company would look to reduce its $595m of net debt by improving the efficiency of its mining operations. The company said it had “sufficient liquidity headroom” for at least 12 months.

Source: DCLA

If you have a Diamond Ring which you wish to sell …

DCLA provides a quick insight and options on how to resale and save you all the trouble.

Eventually we all have this experience. Someone close to us may leave property, air looms or a piece of Jewellery.

The resale value of a piece of jewelry may be very different from the original purchase price, determining this value can be a tedious and frustrating journey in itself.

While figuring out what to do with Property, figurines or crystal candy dishes we find something unexpected. A piece of Jewellery with what looks to be a diamond.

Should you choose to keep or bestow the item upon a loved one the story ends here.

However, if you want to sell it this is where your journey of discovery begins.

Advice is cheap and in some cases unqualified, so always look carefully at the source when taking it.

You may be told or hear the sole value of any piece of diamond Jewellery, unless from a recognised name like Cartier or Tiffany’s is in the diamond.

Alternatively, you might be told the value is in the piece as a whole.

Simple Fact is every item will be different.

One constant every expert will agreed on, is if there is a diamond of significant size in the engagement ring. The main diamond should be appraised by a Gemological laboratory of the level of DCLA, GIA or HRD.

The idea of removing the diamond from its setting and shipping it to one of these top recognised laboratories around the world seems daunting. So before you take this step call and ask the advice of the laboratory.

First Step

Michael Cohen and Roy Cohen, veterans in the diamond trade and third generation diamond experts explain “If you don’t have access to one of these laboratories in your area. Visit a trusted Jeweller in your area. Ask them to look at the stone in the mounting”. If the diamond can be safely removed, ask the Jeweller to give a costing for the service.

You can then submit the stone directly or through the Jeweller to qualified internationally recognised laboratory.

After submitting the lose diamond to a laboratory like the DCLA, HRD or GIA. A definitive grade with natural diamond or natural origin on the report, will be attributed to the diamond this will give the ultimate value.

This can take from a few days to weeks depending on the individual laboratory.

Laboratory Fees vary by carat size and gemological work required, this would be a very small percentage of the diamonds value so well worth the expense.

Once this is complete, most people that have reached this point have taken the decision to sell.

Next step

Based on the 4c’s size, colour, clarity and the shape of the diamond working out the value is not complicated.

A bit of online research will give an indicative retail value. However, the Buying or selling percentages and profits are determined by some shopping the items around.

Visit a ‘Trusted’ Jeweller or independent diamond dealer to get advice or an offer. Expect differences in price when a diamond new a is originally purchased, to when it is resold.

Every Jeweller will have different profit margins. In addition, each dealer will work with different qualities or sizes so finding the right buyer may take a few visits.

Using a Broker or Auction house

There are a number of ways to sell your jewelry, directly to a dealer or back into the trade or via a store on consignment or through a physical auction to name a few.

Be assured with the correct paperwork, and add extra security with Cold Laser inscription on the diamond linking the zone to the report permanently.

Source: DCLA