Endiama, which holds the exclusive concession for diamond mining rights in Angola, has already flagged an almost one-third reduction in diamond output this year.
Angola’s state-run diamond miner Endiama could face a hit to its operations as Western sanctions on Russia could delay supplies of parts and machinery, according to a government brochure.
The government publication was made available at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Monday.
Western nations have unleashed crippling economic sanctions against Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Endiama, which holds the exclusive concession for diamond mining rights in Angola, has already flagged an almost one-third reduction in diamond output to 10.05 million carats this year, from a forecast 13.8 million carats.
The company expects revenue of about $1.42bn from the sale of its diamonds this year.
“One of the great challenges for 2022 will certainly be to maintain the sustainability of the mines while the war between Russia and Ukraine lasts,” said the government brochure, “since the sanctions that the United States and Western countries have imposed on Russia may affect some national mining companies, delaying the supply of some machinery, parts and spares.”
Endiama has signed contracts with Rio Tinto to explore its Chiri mine in the Angolan province of Lunda Norte, while another project, Luaxe, was also expected to begin pilot production, it added, without providing a timeline.
Last month, diamond miner De Beers signed two mineral investment contracts with the Angolan government, the Anglo American subsidiary said ahead of a return to the country it left in 2012.
Gem Diamonds’ revenue in Q1 2022 (ending March 2022) has gone up 4% quarter-on-quarter and 19% year-on-year to $52.1 million, IDEX Online reports.
The miner, which owns 70% of the Letseng mine in Lesotho, sold 28,461 carats during the quarter – a rise when compared to the 24,790 carats it sold in the previous quarter. However, prices fell from $2,018 to $1,831, according to the report.
Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds’ CEO, said: “We remain confident about the outlook for diamond prices, particularly for Letseng’s large high-value diamonds with an average price of $1,831 per carat achieved during the period. Prices achieved on a like-for-like basis continued the largely upward trend from 2021.”
A farmer in Madhya Pradesh had a great stroke of luck as he stumbled upon a 11.88 carat good quality diamond in a small, leased mine in Panna, famous for diamond mines. The small-time farmer, Pratap Singh Yadav, who also works as a labourer, found this diamond from a mine in Patti area in the district, diamond officer Ravi Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
This good quality diamond will be put up for sale in the upcoming auction and the price will be fixed as per the government guidelines.
Talking to reporters, Mr Yadav said, “I am a poor man with a small agricultural land. I also work as a labourer. I have been working hard in this mine for the past three months and got this diamond and deposited it to the Diamond Office.” The money received from the auction of this diamond will be used for setting up a business and to fund the education of his children.
According to private estimates, the diamond may fetch more than ₹ 50 lakh at the auction.
Luck Shines On Madhya Pradesh Farmer As He Mines Almost 12 Carat Diamond The Panna district is estimated to have diamond reserves of 12 lakh carats.
Panna, Madhya Pradesh: A farmer in Madhya Pradesh had a great stroke of luck as he stumbled upon a 11.88 carat good quality diamond in a small, leased mine in Panna, famous for diamond mines. The small-time farmer, Pratap Singh Yadav, who also works as a labourer, found this diamond from a mine in Patti area in the district, diamond officer Ravi Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
This good quality diamond will be put up for sale in the upcoming auction and the price will be fixed as per the government guidelines.
Talking to reporters, Mr Yadav said, “I am a poor man with a small agricultural land. I also work as a labourer. I have been working hard in this mine for the past three months and got this diamond and deposited it to the Diamond Office.” The money received from the auction of this diamond will be used for setting up a business and to fund the education of his children.
According to private estimates, the diamond may fetch more than ₹ 50 lakh at the auction.
Luck Shines On Madhya Pradesh Farmer As He Mines Almost 12 Carat Diamond The Panna district is estimated to have diamond reserves of 12 lakh carats.
Panna, Madhya Pradesh: A farmer in Madhya Pradesh had a great stroke of luck as he stumbled upon a 11.88 carat good quality diamond in a small, leased mine in Panna, famous for diamond mines. The small-time farmer, Pratap Singh Yadav, who also works as a labourer, found this diamond from a mine in Patti area in the district, diamond officer Ravi Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
This good quality diamond will be put up for sale in the upcoming auction and the price will be fixed as per the government guidelines.
Talking to reporters, Mr Yadav said, “I am a poor man with a small agricultural land. I also work as a labourer. I have been working hard in this mine for the past three months and got this diamond and deposited it to the Diamond Office.” The money received from the auction of this diamond will be used for setting up a business and to fund the education of his children.
According to private estimates, the diamond may fetch more than ₹ 50 lakh at the auction.
Officials said that the raw diamond would be auctioned and the proceeds would be given to the farmer after deduction of the government royalty and taxes.
Luck Shines On Madhya Pradesh Farmer As He Mines Almost 12 Carat Diamond The Panna district is estimated to have diamond reserves of 12 lakh carats.
Panna, Madhya Pradesh: A farmer in Madhya Pradesh had a great stroke of luck as he stumbled upon a 11.88 carat good quality diamond in a small, leased mine in Panna, famous for diamond mines. The small-time farmer, Pratap Singh Yadav, who also works as a labourer, found this diamond from a mine in Patti area in the district, diamond officer Ravi Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
This good quality diamond will be put up for sale in the upcoming auction and the price will be fixed as per the government guidelines.
Talking to reporters, Mr Yadav said, “I am a poor man with a small agricultural land. I also work as a labourer. I have been working hard in this mine for the past three months and got this diamond and deposited it to the Diamond Office.” The money received from the auction of this diamond will be used for setting up a business and to fund the education of his children.
According to private estimates, the diamond may fetch more than ₹ 50 lakh at the auction.
Officials said that the raw diamond would be auctioned and the proceeds would be given to the farmer after deduction of the government royalty and taxes.
Panna district is estimated to have diamond reserves of 12 lakh carats.
Christie’s will offer a 103.49-carat diamond that could fetch up to $18 million at its upcoming New York sale.
The emerald-cut, D-Flawless, type IIa stone, called the Light of Africa diamond, will headline the auction house’s Magnificent Jewels sale on June 8, it said Monday. It will be among the items featured as part of Christie’s luxury week.
The diamond was cut from a 299.3-carat rough Petra Diamonds recovered from its Cullinan mine in South Africa in January 2021. Petra then sold the diamond to Dubai-based diamond-sourcing and supply company Stargems DMCC in March of that year for $12.18 million. It is the third-largest high-quality white diamond recovered from Cullinan since Petra acquired it in 2008, the miner noted.
Christie’s will preview the diamond in Geneva from May 6 to 11, followed by Hong Kong from May 22 to 24, before showing it in New York between June 3 and 7.
Star Diamond has completed a study into the abundance of Type IIa diamonds in parcels recovered from the Early Joli Fou geological units at the Orion North (K120, K147 and K148) and Taurus kimberlites (K118, K122 and K150).
The pipes are located within the Fort a la Corne diamond district of central Saskatchewan, including the Star–Orion South diamond project, on properties held in a joint venture with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada.
These diamond parcels were recovered by Star Diamond between 2006 and 2008 from 120-cm diameter drilling programs. The latest study confirms that unusually high proportions of Type IIa diamonds are present in both the Orion North and Taurus kimberlites.
Of particular note is the high proportion of Type IIa diamonds in the Orion North 147-148 EJF (52%), of which 66% of the 24 stones, 0.66 carats and above are Type IIa. The largest Type IIa diamond identified was a 6.88-carat stone from Orion North (K147-K148 EJF).
Senior technical advisor George Read said that the Type IIa diamonds at Orion North and Taurus are top white in colour, Type IIa diamonds are rare and account for less than 2% of all natural rough diamonds mined from kimberlites. Many high-value, top colour, large specials (greater than 10.8 carats) are Type IIa diamonds, which include all 10 of the largest known rough diamonds recovered worldwide.
The study also confirms and augments an earlier study of Type IIa diamonds being present in the Fort a la Corne kimberlites with Star (26.5%) and Orion South (12.5%).
A target for further exploration completed by Star Diamond in 2014 estimated that between 881 million and 1.04 billion tonnes of the major EJF units, containing between 46 and 79 million carats, occur within the Orion North and Taurus kimberlite clusters.
Orion North (K147, K148 and K220) alone is estimated to contain between 340 million and 410 million tonnes of EJF kimberlite with an estimated range of grade of 2.75 to 8.37 carats per hundred tonnes.
Russia may buy an as yet undetermined amount of rough diamonds from sanctions-hit producer Alrosa through its state precious metals and gems repository Gokhran, the country’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.
The United States imposed sanctions on state-controlled Alrosa in April, complicating the Russian company’s operations in the global diamond market, with the aim of cutting off a source of revenue for Russia.
“We do not rule out the possibility of Gokhran purchasing diamonds produced by Alrosa. The amount will be determined later,” Siluanov told reporters.
Gokhran is generally more focused on purchases of precious metals from Russian domestic producers than diamonds, he added.
Alrosa, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds, was behind about 30% of global output in 2021 and competes with Anglo American unit De Beers.
Its sales, mainly to Belgium, India and the United Arab Emirates, totalled $4.2 billion in 2021.
Gokhran bought diamonds worth $1 billion from Alrosa during years of weak demand caused by the global financial crisis.
A record blue diamond co-owned by De Beers far outstripped its presale estimate in a stand-alone sale at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, garnering HKD 450.9 million ($57.5 million), the auction house said Wednesday.
The 15.10-carat De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond
The step-cut, 15.10-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internally flawless stone, called the De Beers Cullinan Blue, is the largest of its color to appear at auction. The stone, which sold to an unnamed buyer, had been expected to fetch up to $48 million.
Petra Diamonds discovered the 39.35-carat rough in April 2021 at its Cullinan mine in South Africa. In July, De Beers and Diacore bought the stone for $40.2 million, and Diacore manufactured the piece into the final polished.
To date, only five blue diamonds weighing more than 10 carats have come to auction, none of which has exceeded 15 carats, Sotheby’s explained. Similar blue diamonds have also fetched high prices, including the Blue Moon of Josephine, a cushion-shaped, 12.03-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internally flawless diamond that sold for $48.5 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2015. Meanwhile, the Oppenheimer Blue, a step-cut, 14.62-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, VVS1-clarity stone, garnered $57.5 million at a Christie’s Geneva sale in 2016.
