The 303.10-carat Golden Canary fetched $12.4 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels in New York on Wednesday, becoming the third most valuable yellow diamond ever sold at auction, the company reported.
The pear-shaped, fancy-deep-brownish-yellow stone is the world’s largest known internally flawless diamond. It is also the largest flawless or internally flawless diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Sotheby’s said Thursday. The auction house offered the piece without reserve, but predicted it would bring in more than $15 million.
The diamond was initially discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the early 1980s. Originally called the Incomparable Diamond, the stone was recut from its previous 407-carat shield shape to deepen the color and brighten the hue.
“The Golden Canary captivated me from the moment I saw it — with its monumental size, golden hue and impeccable clarity — it is truly an extraordinary diamond with immense presence,” said Quig Bruning, head of jewelry for the Americas at Sotheby’s.
Israel’s exports of polished diamond have shown positive growth over the past 11 months, a statement issued by Israeli Economic Ministry revealed yesterday.
According to the statement, the net rough diamond imports reached about $1.68 billion, recording an eight per cent decline compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the net rough diamond exports reached $1.46 billion during the same period, recording a 9.5 per cent decline compared to the same period last year.
Last month, net Israeli exports of rough diamonds to the UAE reached about $10.7 million – about 14 per cent of the total Israeli exports of rough diamonds in November.
Israel imported rough diamond worth $25.7 million from the UAE – 21 per cent of the total Israeli imports of rough diamond.
Israel recently began exporting diamonds to Bahrain and the Ministry of Economy and Industry expects this market to grow next year.
The global diamond industry has faced massive interruptions as a result of Russia’s war on Ukraine. US sanctions on Russia, the world’s third largest diamond exporter, includes diamond trade.
Winston Chitando, Zimbabwe’s mines and mining development minister, said in an interview with the Sunday Mail newspaper quoted by IDEX Online that the country’s diamond sector will grow to $1 billion by the end of 2023.
Chitando said that Murowa Diamonds and the ZCDC (Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company) “were expanding their operations and would help bring total output to 7 million carats, up from 2 million in 2018.”
Chitando said: “Other countries produce quite a lot, but their production is mature . . . whereas Zimbabwe has a fairly rapidly growing industry. It is probably experiencing the biggest growth in the diamond industry in the world.”
In another report in Rough & Polished, Zimbabwe’s Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is quoted as saying that the mining sector is expected to grow by 10% this year, and that the government had issued 20 exploration prospecting orders (EPOs) to several companies this year. He also said that the mining sector “is expected to grow by 10.4% in 2023.”
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Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov is stepping down from the position, a Russian news outlet reported.
The executive has decided to resign before the termination of his contract, according to a Google-translated version of an RBC article. He might move into a role at Volga Group, which controls gas and petrochemicals assets, the report added, citing an unnamed source.
An Alrosa spokesperson declined to comment to Rapaport News on Sunday.
Ivanov joined the Russian diamond miner in the top job in 2017, succeeding Andrey Zharkov. Earlier this year, the US named Ivanov as a sanctioned person following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Las Vegas… Diamond market sentiment received a boost from the Las Vegas shows, which demonstrated robust US demand. However, polished prices declined amid a weak global economic outlook and a rise in inventory levels.
The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat diamonds slid 1.8% in June but increased 7.4% between the beginning of the year and July 1.
RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™)
June
1H 2022
Year on year July 1, 2021, to July 1 2022
RAPI 0.30 ct.
-1.0%
0.2%
-1.6%
RAPI 0.50 ct.
-1.6%
4.1%
5.0%
RAPI 1 ct.
-1.8%
7.4%
16.8%
RAPI 3 ct.
-0.8%
9.7%
22.2%
Trading in Las Vegas reflected jewelers’ strong liquidity after a profitable 2021. Activity slowed once the fairs ended and dealers headed for vacations at the beginning of July.
There were also renewed fears of a recession; the US economy shrank 1.6% in the first quarter, and the latest data showed inflation at 8.5% in May. Consumer confidence dropped 4.5 points in June to its lowest level since February 2021, according to The Conference Board.
Chinese demand was low as well following Covid-19 lockdowns in April and May. The lack of buyers meant local jewelers had sufficient inventory for the short term.
Polished inventory in the midstream grew in June. The number of diamonds listed on RapNet rose 4.3% during the month to 1.87 million as of July 1. The high volume came despite the Russian sanctions that limited Alrosa’s rough sales and took an estimated 30% of global production off the market. Russian rough shortages are expected to impact polished supply in the coming months; manufacturers have so far been working with goods from before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Other miners are capitalizing on the new rough-market dynamic. De Beers’ June sales rose 36% year on year to $650 million after a price hike of 8% to 10% on smaller rough — a category Alrosa usually dominates.
We predict that traceable, ethical diamonds will sell at a premium to Russian diamonds as Alrosa goods reenter the market. While US jewelers are upbeat after the shows, there are political and economic headwinds that will likely disrupt the industry in the second half.
Rio Tinto has forecast a sharp drop in rough-diamond output for next year as the Diavik mine edges closer to depletion.
The company expects to produce between 3 million and 3.8 million carats from the Canadian deposit in 2023, it reported at an investor seminar Wednesday. That compares with a plan of 4.5 million to 5 million carats for this year.
The decrease is a result of the exhaustion of rough supply from some of Diavik’s major mining areas, a Rio Tinto spokesperson told Rapaport News. The mine, which employs 1,100 workers, is set to close in 2025.
“We’ve completed mining at the A21 pipe, which was the latest pipe opened in 2018,” the spokesperson explained. “We’re finishing surface mining, and also one of the underground parts of the mine is done, so this is part of the plan changes. There are four areas we are mining at the moment, and next year there will be two.”
Diavik, of which Rio Tinto is the sole owner, is currently the miner’s only operational diamond site. The company’s Argyle deposit, known for its fancy-pink diamonds, closed in November 2020. Meanwhile, an exploration partnership with Star Diamond is on hold as Rio Tinto considers an exit from the project.
