Karowe Mine Yields Massive Rough Diamond Weighing 1.080 carats.

Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered a 1,080.1-carat rough diamond from its Karowe mine in Botswana, its fourth topping the 1,000-carat mark in eight years.

The white, type-IIA stone came from the site’s south lobe, known for its large, high-quality rough, Lucara said Wednesday.

The diamond showed up in the miner’s Coarse XRT unit, a recovery circuit that uses X-ray technology to identify huge stones in large pieces of ore before they’re broken up.

Since 2015, the south lobe of Karowe’s AK6 kimberlite has yielded three other diamonds in this size class: the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona that year, the 1,758-carat Sewelô in 2019, and a 1,174.76-carat clivage diamond in 2021.

“Lucara is extremely pleased to be reporting the recovery of another large, high-quality gem diamond in excess of 1,000 carats,” said Lucara CEO Eira Thomas on Wednesday. “As we progress mining deeper in the open pit and transition to underground mining exclusively in the south lobe, the preponderance of large, high-value stones is increasing.”

The miner is investing $683 million in Karowe’s underground expansion — a move it says will extend the mine’s life until at least 2040, 15 years beyond the original 2025 closure date.

Source: DCLA

China's Gold Economy: Consumer desire for gold increases, desire for diamonds decreases

In the first half of this year, China consumed nearly 555 tons of gold, up more than 16 percent year-on-year. The trend has been described as a domestic gold craze. But diamonds seem to have lost their attraction, as the market size in China declined to 11.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, 2.5 billion dollars less than in 2021. Xu Hua has more from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, China’s biggest distribution center for wholesale jewelry.

XU HUA Shenzhen Shuibei Jewelry Market “We’re at Shenzhen’s Shuibei Jewelry Market, the biggest wholesale market of its kind in China. The market has been crowded with consumers from all over the country for months, as international gold prices continue to rise. Let’s go and see what the best seller is here.”

The hustle and bustle of the Shuibei Jewelry Market since the beginning of 2023 marked a strong comeback from last year. With attractive designs, diverse styles and low prices, dozens of deals can be reached in seconds.

YU WANLING Shenzhen Resident “Shuibei is well-known for its gold sales. The quality gold is more reassuring than other places.”

ZHENG CE Shenzhen Resident “We are about to get married. We prefer to buy some gold rather than diamonds for inheritance or for wearing.”

China’s domestic consumption of gold jewelry reached 555 tons in the first half of 2023. Among the gold consumption, the purchase of gold bars jumped 30 percent year-on-year to 146 tons, while that of gold jewelry reached 368 tons, up almost 15 percent from the same period last year.

HAO RUNSONG General Manager, Lidu Gold “In 2023, our gold sales increased by 20-30 percent compared with last year.”

By contrast, the doorways of neighboring diamond stores looked relatively lonely, as the precious gems lost some significant value over the last few months.

LIU JINGLI Manager, Yishidai Jewelry “The retail transaction volume of diamond inlays is relatively low, and the wholesale sales of our diamond inlays is also declining.”

ZHAO LI Director, The Gold Plaza Operation Center “The sales of diamond jewelry have declined slightly, partly due to falling prices, fewer marriages, the impact of cultivated diamonds, and changing buyer behaviour.”

For daily social needs, some consumers looked to art jewelry as an alternative to diamond jewelry.

HUANG WEIJUN Brand Director, Shenzhen REIEN Jewelry “Our sales of art jewelry in the first half of this year have increased by about 300 percent over the whole of last year.”

Some economists say the booming gold sales are a direct reflection of a gloomy economic outlook.

WU HAIFENG Executive Director, Shenzhen Institute of Data Economy “When people feel uncertainty about the future, especially on the economy, especially about the income growth, people will think to change their investments platform from a variety of the financial products to hard currencies such as gold, such as real estate.”

However, Wu says that the real estate market hasn’t looked good since the beginning of the last year, so Chinese consumers and investors have been looking at other products. Wu added proper stimulative policies are still needed to ensure a healthy market and economic rebound. Xu Hua, CGTN, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

Source: DCLA

Slower Growth for Fancy Colour Diamond Prices

 

Fancy colour diamonds saw slower growth in the last three months, with an increase of just 0.5 per cent in the FCRF Index, which tracks prices across all colours, sizes and intensities.

That compares with a 1.3 per cent rise during the first quarter of 2023, as reported by the New York-based Fancy Colour Research Foundation, with the biggest increases among yellows.

During Q2, yellows diamonds again drove the increase, with a rise of 6.5 per cent across all categories. Pinks were up 0.2 per cent and blues rose by 0.6 per cent.

The FCRF noted that fancy colour diamonds had again out-performed white diamonds, which saw prices fall 3.5 per cent during the quarter.

Board member Eden Rachminov said: “The first six months of 2023 were intriguing. We experienced notable spikes in certain sub-categories within the yellow category, particularly in the intense and vivid grades with a high inner-grade.

“Meanwhile, the blue and pink categories remained stable. If the world economy continues to maintain its positive momentum, we can anticipate a robust price behavior after the summer.”

The FCRF tracks pricing data for fancy colour diamonds in Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and Tel Aviv.

Source: DCLA

US Blocks $26m of India Diamond Payments to Russia

 

The US has reportedly blocked $26m of payments made by Indian businesses attempting to buy rough diamonds from Russia.

OFAC, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, is said to have instructed banks in recent months to halt the transfer of funds, mostly from UAE subsidiaries of Indian companies.

Neither India nor the UAE has sanctioned rough diamonds from Russia. The US has, although its ban does not apply to diamonds cut and polished outside Russia.

Leaders of the G7 nations concluded their summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May without the clear mandate to fully sanction Russian diamonds that many had expected.

The US is believed to have halted the bank transfers over suspicions they were being made to sanctioned entities in Russia, but industry representatives in India insist otherwise.

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is lobbying the Indian Ministry of Commerce and the Indian embassy in the UAE to resolve matters.

Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), told Economic Times: “We are trying to explain to OFAC that the payments were made to non-sanctioned entities and even to some Russian entities well before the sanctions came into place. There is very little direct import of diamonds from Russia.”

The $26m of blocked purchases represent only a small proportion of the average $1.3bn of rough a month that India has been importing from all sources (GJEPC figures for April to June).

Source: DCLA

555ct. Diamond Bought with Illicit Funds, SEC Says

Cryptocurrency mogul Richard Heart allegedly used proceeds from the sale of unregistered securities to buy the 555-carat Enigma diamond, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC has charged Heart — who was born Richard Schueler and who created the Hex cryptocurrency token — with selling the securities to raise more than $1 billion from investors. It alleges that Heart and his PulseChain company committed fraud by misappropriating at least $12 million of those funds to purchase luxury items, including sports cars, watches and the diamond.

“Heart called on investors to buy crypto asset securities in offerings that he failed to register,” Eric Werner, director of the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office, said in a statement Monday. “He then defrauded those investors by spending some of their crypto assets on exorbitant luxury goods.”

The Enigma, which is believed to have come from outer space, is the largest faceted diamond of any kind to appear at auction. Heart purchased it from Sotheby’s at a one-off sale in February 2022 for GBP 3.2 million ($4.3 million). At the time, Heart tweeted that he had bought the stone and would rename it the Hex.com diamond as a nod to his cryptocurrency platform, calling it a “match made in heaven.” Hex has a “5555 day club” comprising people who hold 5,555-day Hex stakes — the longest possible stake in the electronic token.

Sotheby’s, which accepted payment for the Enigma, was not mentioned as a defendant in the SEC’s lawsuit.

“Sotheby’s does not comment on individual transactions, but we can confirm we have established due diligence procedures, tailored and updated to take account of our requirements to conduct business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” the auction house stated.

Source: DCLA

Anglo announces latest De Beers’ rough diamond sales value

 

Anglo American plc announces the value of rough diamond sales (Global Sightholder Sales and Auctions) for De Beers’ sixth sales cycle of 2023, amounting to US$410 million.

The provisional rough diamond sales figure quoted for Cycle 6 represents the expected sales value for the period 10 and 25 July and remains subject to adjustment based on final completed sales.

Al Cook, CEO of De Beers, said: “In line with seasonal trends, rough diamond sales continued at a lower level during the sixth sales cycle of the year. Participants in the diamond industry’s midstream sector continue to take a cautious approach to purchases in light of ongoing macroeconomic challenges.”

Source: DCLA

US Jewelry Trade Shrinking at Faster Rate

The number of active US jewelry companies continued to decline in the second quarter, according to the latest data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT).

Some 174 businesses shuttered during the three months ending June 30, an increase of 8% versus 161 in the same period a year earlier, the JBT said last week. In total, there were 23,424 companies active in the US industry, a drop of 2.4% compared with the second quarter of 2022 and 107 fewer than the previous quarter.

Of the businesses that discontinued operations, 22 shut due to mergers or takeovers, while 152 closed for other reasons. None went bankrupt, the JBT noted. Meanwhile, the number of new businesses slid to 116, compared to 136 the year before.

Retailers still constituted the bulk of the sector, at 17,760, down 2.5% year on year. The wholesale trade slipped 1.5% to 3,394, while the manufacturing sector contracted 2.7% to 2,270 firms.

The JBT, which provides credit information for the trade, downgraded the credit ratings of 873 companies across the US and Canada during the quarter, versus 831 a year ago. Meanwhile, it raised the scores of 823 businesses, compared to 752 from April to June of 2022.

Source: DCLA