Jwaneng is World's Richest Diamond Mine

                    Diamond mine Botswana

The world’s richest diamond mine for the first three quarters of 2022 was Jwaneng, in Botswana, with 10.3m carats.

Orapa, also in Botswana, was second-placed with 8.0m carats, according to newly-published figures from miningintelligence.com.

Both mines are operated by Debswana, a partnership between De Beers and the government of Botswana.

Third on the list is Udachny mine, operated by Alrosa, the sanctioned Russian miner. The 4.6m-carat figure is based on its 2021 production, assuming trends since 2019 continued.

Fourth is the Venetia mine, in South Africa (4.6m carats), operated by De Beers and fifth is Nyurba, in Russia, with 3.6m carats (with same caveat as for Udachny).

Jwaneng and Orapa are also listed as the two highest value diamond mines, estimated at $1.25bn and $976m, both based on average historic annualized prices of $121.5 per carat.

Source: DCLA

Antwerp Diamond Polishers Develop Device That Uses AI to Grade Colored Stones

Fancy colour diamonds

Chroma Diamonds founded by Alexander Appels and Jan De Henau is a relatively new company in the Antwerp diamond district, which specializes in colored diamonds. Stymied by the relatively “subjective process of color grading”, the 2 have set out on a mission to develop a device that provides more objective measurements for the grading of colored stones.

The device will utilize AI gathering data points and becoming smarter with each new set of inputs. They believe with sufficient time the device would learn enough to be able to more accurately grade certain stones, especially in resolving cases where certain grading criteria place the value of diamond on the edge of a color category but not quite enough to satisfy it being classified in the next grade above.

“Customers come to us with high expectations. After all, the value of their diamond is determined by, among other things, the color and intensity of that color, and let it (partly) depend on the cut and the people in the grading office, we hear. Because it is they who assign the diamond an official color, and therefore also determine its value definitively,” explains Appels.

Though this idea is not new to the Diamond District the duo has taken things one step further receiving support from the innovation process of the City of Antwerp. They plan on using and testing the device in their own business first as proof-of-concept before taking it to the greater market.

Source: Bloovi

Stolen Dresden diamonds recovered in Berlin police raid

                The Dresden Green Diamond

German police seized large parts of the stolen treasures from the 2019 looting of Dresden’s famous “Green Vault.”

During a raid in Berlin in the early hours of Saturday, police special forces and public prosecutors found and secured 31 items representing a “significant part” of the stolen artifacts, authorities said.

In an initial inspection, investigators found that several pieces appeared to be intact, among them the hat decoration and star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle from the stolen diamond set.

The items were transferred to Dresden under the protection of special police forces, where they’ll be examined forensically and then by specialists from the Dresden State Art Collections to check their authenticity.

The Dresden incident was one of a number of heists carried out at German museums in recent years. In November, thieves broke into a museum in Bavaria and made off with nearly 500 ancient gold coins worth several million euros.

In 2020, a Berlin court convicted three men of stealing a 100-kilogram (220-pound) gold coin worth $4 million from a museum in the center of the German capital.

Source: mining.com

Top Lots Smash Estimates at Phillips Jewelry Sale

 Top Lots Smash Estimates at Phillips Jewelry Sale

                        Pink diamond necklace 

A pink-diamond necklace led the most recent jewelry auction at Phillips, smashing its high estimate to bring in $1.9 million following a “fierce” bidding battle.

The oval, 4.05-carat, fancy-intense-pink diamond pendant by Boodles was estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million at the December 13 New York sale. It is one of eight lots in the top 10 that beat their presale high price tags.

In total, the sale garnered $7.4 million, with 81% of items on offer finding buyers.

“We are delighted to conclude the year on such a high note,” said Benoît Repellin, worldwide head of jewelry for Phillips. “With enthusiastic bidding across the globe — from Egypt, to Korea, to Brazil — the sale demonstrated the continued appeal for rare colored and colorless diamonds, as well as for exceptional signed pieces.”

A round cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut, 30.65-carat, fancy-intense-yellow diamond ring sold for $693,300, exceeding its $500,000 high estimate.

Read More: Diamonds.net

NECKLACE WITH 42 ENGAGEMENT RING DIAMONDS

    Drake For All The Times I Wanted To Propose

Drake isn’t afraid to fall in love, and now he’s got an insanely flashy piece of jewelry to prove it — a necklace with 42 engagement ring diamonds — for all the times he’s wanted to propose.

Celebrity Jeweler Alex Moss tells TMZ … Champagne Papi’s new piece is called “Previous Engagements,” a tribute to all the women Drizzy contemplated asking to marry him, but never went through.

In total, we’re told the piece’s 42 stones count for 351.38 carats in diamonds. On top of all the ice, it’s made using 18K white gold and was set using the eagle claw technique.

Alex tells us the entire thing took 14 months to complete and was built by hand in NYC … though he won’t reveal how much it cost.

Drake debuted it at Lil Baby’s birthday concert in Atlanta last Saturday at State Farm Arena.

42 may seem like a lot, but there’s always room to add more for The Certified Lover Boy.

Source: DCLA

Sarine Claims Win in Infringement Case

        Sarine headquarters in Hod Hasharon, Israel.

An Indian court has found five manufacturers in Surat guilty of copyright infringement and the illegal use of Sarine Technologies’ software, the Israel-based company reported.

“The court’s ruling has made it clear that any company using unlicensed or pirated Advisor software is breaking the law,” said Sarine CEO David Block in a statement Sunday, referring to its rough-planning technology. “We intend to aggressively protect our IP [intellectual property] and will continue taking action against any entities involved in infringement.”

Sarine took legal action against several companies in and around the Indian manufacturing city of Surat in May. Court commissioners visited the premises of the alleged infringers on May 18, Sarine said at the time.

The court has also ordered the entities in question — Gopi Impex, Nirghay Impex, Pramukh Gems, Dhiren Diamonds and Bhumika Gems — to remove the infringing software from their computers, according to the company, which provides diamond-scanning equipment for the manufacturing industry. Rapaport News was unable to reach the alleged infringers for comment.

Source: Diamonds.net

Lucara Expects to Sell More Diamonds for More Money in 2023

 

Canadian miner Lucara Diamond has announced that it expects to sell between $200 million to $230 million worth of diamonds from its Karowe mine in Botswana in 2023 – an increase over its previous forecast of $185-$215 million in 2022, IDEX Online reports.

Lucara also said it expects to sell 385,000 to 415,000 carats (up from 300,000 to 340,000 carats in 2022) and expects to recover 395,000 to 425,000 carats (an increase from 300,000 to 340,000 carats).

Recently, Lucara announced that it has extended its sales agreement with HB Trading to sell +10.8-carat rough diamonds from Karowe for another ten years. Lucara and HB partnered in 2020 to sell Karowe’s large, high-value diamonds “that have historically accounted for about 60% to 70% of its annual revenues,” according to a report by Rough & Polished.

                   Rough Diamond from Lucara

Source: DCLA