Tanzania Reports Record $63 Million in Diamond Exports Despite Williamson Mines Closure

 

                  Tanzania Diamond mines

The Bank of Tanzania announced that the country’s diamond exports increased significantly to $63.1 million (USD) in value by November 2022. This is more than seven times of the $8.4 million export value that was recorded in the year-over year analysis since November 2021.

The good performance of the company has been attributed to the country’s diamond producer Williamson Mines which has temporarily shut down operations due to a recent tailings breach on November 7, 2022. The mine is an open pit operation located on the 146-hectare Mwadui kimberlite pipe, which is one of the world’s largest economic kimberlites.

The company belongs to the parent company Petra Diamonds, which owns 75 percent of the company, and the Tanzanian government owns the remainder. According to Petra’s official statement, production at the Williamson mine will resume in the 2024 fiscal year.

Source: DCLA

Tiffany Buys Some of a Legendary Diamond Mine’s Last Finds

 

               Argyle Diamond Mine in Australia.

The new Tiffany Collection comprises 35 gems, including an unusual red stone, from the Argyle Diamond Mine in Australia.

About a year ago, a representative of the Argyle Diamond Mine — a site in Western Australia that was the pre-eminent source of pink diamonds until it closed in 2020 — approached Tiffany & Company’s chief gemologist with an unusual offer: the chance to purchase a collection of diamonds that were among the last stones taken from the mine.

The decision, Tiffany executives said, didn’t require much consideration.

“We had to do it,” Anthony Ledru, the brand’s president and chief executive, said in his bright office in New York’s Flatiron district. “It’s perfect with what we stand for.”

The purchase, which was finalized several months ago, involved 35 diamonds of various shades: pink, almost purple and even one red gem, an especially unusual color for a diamond. The gems, which had already been cut in various styles, “checked off all of those boxes: rarity, scarcity and beauty,” said Victoria Reynolds, Tiffany’s chief gemologist.

But the stones are small, ranging from 0.35 carats to 1.52 carats, considerably more petite than the statement-size gemstones frequently used in engagement rings and solitaire necklaces.

“These are small, there’s no doubt,” Ms. Reynolds said, “but for connoisseurs, collectors who understand how rare these are, it’s incredibly appealing.”

How much did the jeweler pay for what it now calls the Tiffany Collection? Mr. Ledru wouldn’t disclose the sum, but said it was “probably not enough compared to what it’s going to become in the next five, 10 years.” (He did note that it was Tiffany’s largest single purchase of 2022.)

Exactly how the diamonds will be used in jewelry hasn’t been decided, although Mr. Ledru said it was likely that they all would be used in one-of-a-kind designs. In the meantime, the diamonds are being shown to select clients in New York City and, next month, in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The eventual prices are sure to be high. “You pay a premium for anything that says ‘Argyle pink diamond,’” said Renée Newman, an independent gemologist and author based in Los Angeles.

Source: DCLA

Fancy diamonds aid North Arrow mining

 

With diamond markets rebounding from the COVID-19 downturn, North Arrow Minerals Inc. and partner Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd. have continued to demonstrate the value of the fancy yellow diamonds in the Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat project in Nunavut.

Lying about nine kilometers (5.6 miles) northeast of the hamlet of Naujaat (formerly Repulse Bay) on Nunavut’s Melville Peninsula, Naujaat covers 10,742 hectares (26,54 acres) of contiguous mineral leases and claims held by North Arrow.

To date, fifteen kimberlites and eight kimberlite pipes have been identified on the property, as well as a number of associated kimberlite dykes. Of its numerous targets, the Q1-4 kimberlite is the largest and most diamondiferous of these bodies.

Though North Arrow has drilled to depths of 400 meters in Q1-4, the current resource estimate for the project lies around roughly 48 million metric tons of material down to 205 meters, containing more than 26 million carats of diamonds.

North Arrow has since undertaken extensive exploration and evaluation focused on the potential value of its uniquely colored fancy vivid orange-yellow diamonds found in the Q1-4 kimberlite at Naujaat, which is considered one of the largest undeveloped diamond properties in Canada not controlled by a major mining company.

Naujaat’s rare yellow diamonds have been certified by the Gemological Institute of America and are expected to sell at high premiums to white diamond prices, upon which the historical project’s economics were mostly based.

Spending the better part of 2022 filtering through its 2021 bulk sample program funded by Burgundy, North Arrow reported recoveries from the first 70% (1,316 dry metric tons) and revealed at least 268 diamonds of greater than 9 DTC (Diamond Trading Company) weighing roughly 117.98 carats.

Three of the largest recovered diamonds were 3.31, 3.07, and 2.76 carats. 48 of the 268 diamonds classified as fancy color, with more than half of that classifying as orange in color – with orange being considered amongst the rarest of colors for natural diamonds.

Later in the season, the company announced the remaining results of its 2,500 bulk sample program. The results, representing the final 30% (498 dmt), were from the same source, the A88 unit of the Q1-4 deposit.

Despite the smaller amount, North Arrow reported 99 diamonds greater than 9 DTC weighing 55.8 carats. The three largest stones were seven, 2.17, and 2.02 carats.

“The 2021 bulk sample has confirmed the presence of an important, potentially high value population of fancy orange and yellow diamonds in both the A28 and A88 units of the Q1-4 diamond deposit,” said North Arrow President and CEO Ken Armstrong. “This is highly encouraging, as is the recovery of a seven carat diamond – the largest stone recovered to date from the Q1-4 deposit and, although it classifies as boart – an indication of the potential of Q1-4 to produce larger diamonds.”

North Arrow Minerals Inc.

After spending the year filtering through 2,500 bags of its 2021 bulk sample program, results returned 367 diamonds of greater than 9 DTC, weighing in at roughly 173.78 carats.

Of the 99, 10 were classified as fancy color diamonds, with three being labeled as “intense” or “vivid” – the two highest color saturation classes and an important indicator of the potential value in fancy color diamonds. Aside from that evaluation, nine of the fancy diamonds were also categorized as orange.

“The completion of sample processing and diamond recovery from the 2021 bulk sample has further confirmed the presence of a potentially high value, fancy orange and yellow diamond population in the Q1-4 kimberlite,” said Burgundy Diamond Mines Managing Director and CEO Peter Ravenscroft.

In addition to the successful bulk sampling at Naujaat, North Arrow is advancing seven other properties in Canada in the discovery and target development stages, including six additional diamond projects – three in Nunavut, including the Mel, Luxx, and grassroots CSI projects; two in neighboring Northwest Territories, including a 21 percent interest in the LDG joint venture project; and one in Saskatchewan.

Source: miningnewsnorth

Alrosa Finds 2 Huge Diamonds at Udachnaya on the Same Day

Two large high-quality diamonds – each larger than 50 carats – were unearthed in Yakutia on December 2, 2022, Bankers Day, “when Russian bankers celebrated their professional holiday,” according to Rough & Polished.

The two stones were extracted at Processing Plant No. 12 from the ore mined at the Udachnaya diamond pipe. One weighs over 67 carats, while the second diamond, a type IIa, weighs more than 52 carats,

Dmitry Amelkin, Alrosa’s Strategy Director, commented: “Finding two of these rare gem-quality diamonds on one and the same day is a unique coincidence. It is symbolic that this happened precisely on the Udachnaya diamond pipe, which has been accompanied by good luck since its discovery 

Credit: Alrosa

De Beers Slashes Prices of Larger Rough Diamonds

 

        Rough diamonds on display at De Beers

De Beers has made sharp price changes at this week’s sight, implementing deep reductions in larger goods and increases for smaller stones.

Prices fell by as much as 10% in 2-carat rough and above, with lower-quality items seeing the most significant drops, sources told Rapaport News Monday on condition of anonymity. Prices of diamonds under 0.75 carats rose by similar percentages, reflecting a market split that has persisted since late last year, insiders said. Sizes in between saw more modest declines.

“There have been quite wild increases and decreases,” one source said. “Not to say that they’re not justified, but it’s interesting that they’ve done that.”

De Beers declined to comment.

The adjustments follow months of sluggishness in larger, lower-quality rough as Chinese demand slumped during the country’s Covid-19 outbreaks and inflation dented mid-market US spending. Stones in the 3-grainer category and below have remained relatively strong due to steady sales of polished melee and Indian manufacturers’ efforts to fill factories with cheaper material.

De Beers kept its prices firm throughout 2022 despite the weakness in the larger categories, which constitute a significant proportion of its sales. This impacted profit margins at cutting firms, many of which perceived the miner’s rough to be expensive, insiders explained.

“These are the prices [at] which they should have been selling since October,” a sightholder commented. “It’s aligning with reality [rather than] reflecting a relatively poor end of year.”

De Beers is known for its reluctance to reduce prices during downturns, as was the case during the Covid-19 crisis. Now, as then, it has waited for a slight improvement in trading before taking action. China’s reopening has boosted sentiment, while the recent US holiday period was satisfactory, albeit slower than 2021’s record season.

The first sight of 2023, which runs Monday to Friday, comes amid uncertainty about the global economic situation, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the prospects for the Chinese New Year, which occurs on January 22.

It’s also a time of transition at De Beers, which is welcoming a new CEO, Al Cook, to succeed Bruce Cleaver on February 20 and is in the middle of negotiations with the Botswana government over an updated sales deal.

“Generally, things are a bit better than they were four or five months back, but that is because of low [polished] production, not because of an improvement of the market,” a manufacturing executive commented. “So the challenges remain.”

Source: DCLA

Sarine to Buy Majority Stake in Grading Lab GCAL

 Sarine to Buy Majority Stake in Grading Lab GCAL

A grader at GCAL

Sarine Technologies has agreed to acquire a majority share in New York-based Gem Certification and Assurance Lab (GCAL) amid a push to expand in the American market.

“At the beginning of last year, we started ramping up our activities in the US,” Sarine CEO David Block told Rapaport News on Thursday. “Due to that, the discussions with regard to this [deal] ramped up along with our involvement in the US market. This [deal] should be quite a significant jump in the scope of our business in the US.”

Israel-based Sarine has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to purchase the stake for an all-cash consideration, it announced in a statement on Wednesday. The parties plan to reach a final agreement in a few months once due diligence is complete, Block said. The companies have not disclosed the sale price or the size of the share.

GCAL will continue to offer its customers the same products and services as before the deal, and its executives will remain in charge, Sarine said.

However, while currently operating out of a single location in New York, GCAL will be able to implement Sarine’s e-Grading — an automated grading service using artificial intelligence (AI) — to develop the lab’s capabilities across the US and globally. The companies will begin integrating their technology and services even before the deal closes, Block explained. Sarine will continue to offer its services independently outside the US.

Founded in 2001 by Don Palmieri, family-owned GCAL is known for providing diamond certificates carrying a guarantee, rather than just reports that act as a description of grades. In 2021, it launched 8X, a cut-grading standard that it claims is more exacting than the industry’s triple Ex score.

“Sarine’s technologies will allow us to continue to abide by [our] key code of ethics while still expanding our services to meet the growing demand by consumers seeking confidence that their acquired products and services meet all norms of quality and sustainability,” said GCAL chief operating officer Angelo Palmieri.

Source: DCLA

Fosun weighs sale of Belgian diamond-grading firm IGI

Fosun International Ltd. is weighing a sale of International Gemological Institute in a deal that could value the diamond-grading firm at about €200 million ($215 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Considerations are preliminary and Fosun may decide to keep the asset, the people said. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank declined to comment, while representatives for Fosun and Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Co., the Fosun unit that owns an 80% stake in IGI, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang, Fosun is one of China’s largest non-state conglomerates with businesses including consumer, health care, property, financial services and mining. The firm is in the midst of trying to bolster its balance sheet and investor confidence. It told analysts in October that it’s targeting to sell as much as $11 billion of assets within 12 months.

Fosun’s bonds have rebounded recently after it unveiled a slew of planned asset sales and began weighing billions of dollars in other potential deals, including for resort chain Club Med as Bloomberg News reported in November. Last week, the company announced it would sell stakes in four units to raise about $975 million.

Founded in 1975, IGI is one of the two main institutions that certify diamonds and other gems for their color, cut, clarity and weight. IGI operates 20 laboratories globally, grading finished jewelry, natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds and gemstones, its website shows. It also runs 14 schools of gemology that train professionals in the diamond industry.

Shanghai Yuyuan bought an 80% stake in IGI in 2018 for $108.8 million from shareholders Roland Lorie and Marc Brauner. The founding Lorie family kept the remaining 20%.

Source: DCLA