Diamond News Archives

(IDEX Online) - The vast new bourse being built in Surat is set to attract $20bn of exports from Mumbai and create 200,000 job when it opens next year. 

The world's largest office building - covering a site larger than The Pentagon in the USA  - will boast nine 11-story towers, housing 4,400 offices and bringing merchants and manufacturers under one very big roof.

The Surat Diamond Bourse (pictured under construction), costing $355m, is due to be completed in March 2021.

Surat has long been the capital of diamond manufacturing, handling 90 per cent of all the world's gems, but the trade has been centered in Mumbai, a five-hour drive away.

The new bourse is likely to attract much of Mumbai's business, as well as trade from Israel and Belgium. 

Dinesh Nawadia, regional chairman of the GJEPC, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told the Dinesh Nawadia, regional chairman of Gem & Jewellery Export told India Times: "Many traders who have firms in Surat and Mumbai are likely to settle in Surat. It is possible to export diamonds directly from Surat with a bank guarantee now."...

Poland should not hesitate to introduce negative interest rates if there is a big drop in consumer sentiment, central banker Eryk Lon said on Monday, although he aded that stable rates remained the most likely scenario. Poland has cut interest rates three times by a cumulative 140 basis points since...

(IDEX Online) - The proposed sale of the Ekati mine in Canada is off, after owners Dominion reached an "impasse" with its buyer's insurers.

 

The troubled miner had hoped to complete the $146m sale next month to another subsidiary of its parent group, The Washington Companies.

But they couldn't reach agreement on $280m of surety bonds posted with the Government of the Northwest Territories against the eventual reclamation expenses at the Ekati mine site.

Local media also report that Pat Merrin, appointed as Dominion's interim chief executive in February, left the company after the deal collapsed.

Hundreds of employees remain furloughed at the closed mine, 300km northeast of Yellowknife, near Lac de Gras, Northwest Territories.

The stalking horse bid was made by Canadian Diamond Holdings, L.P. and CA Canadian Diamond Mines ULC. Dominion mreceived no other bids and its future is now even more uncertain than before.

Dominion, the world's third largest producer of rough diamonds by value, said it had "reached an impasse in negotiations and there is no reasonable prospect of reaching a satisfactory agreement". 

It filed for insolvency in April, after closing the mine the previous mine because of the global pandemic.

The Washington Companies, a privately held conglomerate based in Montana, USA, bought Dominion in 2017 for $1.2bn.

Dominion remains in creditor protection until November 7, 2020, unless extended. It is working with stakeholders to determine the next steps.  ...

"Gold prices skyrocketed … after the White House blinked first over the stimulus deadlock,” said Ed Moya, analyst at New York’s OANDA. “Gold looks like it will benefit from a stimulus deal before the election.