Diamond News Archives

Namibia has scrapped a requirement for companies seeking mining exploration licences to be partly owned and managed by black Namibians, the country’s mining industry group said on Friday.

The policy was introduced in 2015 to increase the participation of historically disadvantaged black Namibians in some of the country's most lucrative business projects, but critics said it threatened the diamond and uranium producer's ability to attract investment.

The chamber of mines said on Friday the requirements had been set aside by Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo in a letter to the group.

Neither the minister nor officials in his department could be reached for comment.

Mining contributed 12.2 percent to the country's gross domestic product last year.

Under the scrapped policy, the management structure of a company applying for an explorationlicence was required to have a minimum 20 percent representation of black Namibians.

At least 5 percent of the company also had to be owned by Namibians or by a company wholly-owned by Namibians.

Mbako said the requirements and uncertainties created by the planned New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF), a regulation intended to force white-owned businesses to sell 25 percent stake to blacks, had hit investor confidence in Namibia.

Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990 and the former German colony suffered from apartheid-style rules, with the white minority controlling most of the economy.

(By Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by James Macharia and Mark Potter)

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Gold firmed last night in a range of $1230.10 - $1238.60, largely fueled by further losses in global equities.

After the bell yesterday afternoon, worse than expected revenues from Amazon and Alphabet helped initiate another round of selling. The NIKKEI fell 0.4%, the SCI was off 0.2%,

European markets were off from 1.5% to 2.4%, and S&P futures were -1.2%.

Some buy stops were tripped over $1232-35 (6 tops, 7/23, 7/25, 7/26, 10/15, 10/16, and 10/24 highs) on the way to its $1238.60 high, but resistance at $1239-40 (double top, 10/23 and 10/25 highs) held once again.

A modest dip in the dollar (DX to 96.55) from a move up in the euro ($1.1359 - $1.1383 – stronger German GfK) also contributed to gold’s strength.

During later European hours, however, the DX climbed to 96.82 – a fresh 2-month high - and knocked gold back to $1232 (lower end of prior resistance held).

The dollar was lifted by weakness in the euro ($1.1383 - $1.1335 – two month low) and the pound ($1.2826 - $1.2777 – two month low) from comments from UK Brexit Secretary Raab blaming the EU for lack of a Brexit deal.

At 8:30 AM, the much awaited US Q3 GDP report was better than expected (3.5% vs. exp. 3.3%), with the Personal Consumption component much stronger than anticipated (4% vs. exp. 3.2%).

The inflation gauges, however, were lower than expected (GDP Price Index 1.7% vs. exp. 2.1%, Core PCE 1.6% vs. exp. 1.8%).

The data continued to take down the probabilities of future 25 bp Fed rate hikes as follows, which was also aided by some not so hawkish commentary from the usually very hawkish Fed’s Mester (rate hikes are based on economic data, not...

If our elected leaders are not concerned about the government deficit, should the citizens be worried?

Governments worldwide spend more than their total revenue and borrow to make up the difference.

The U.S. Debt Clock^[1] shows the US federal debt to be $21.6 trillion, averaging $177,283 per taxpayer.

The government now pays interest on $21.6 trillion. Below is a graph tracking the 10-year interest rates on US treasuries.

My brokerage website shows 10-year treasuries are currently paying 3.22%.

Since December 2016, interest rates have roughly doubled, from 1.5% to 3%. The 1.5% increase adds $324 billion in interest cost to the deficit annually and will continue to rise.

The New York Times (NYT) reports, “As Debt Rises, the Government Will Soon Spend More on Interest Than on the Military”^[2]:

“The federal government could soon pay more in interest…than it spends on the military, Medicaid or children’s programs.

The run-up in borrowing costs is a one-two punch brought on by the need to finance a fast-growing budget deficit, worsened by tax cuts and steadily rising interest rates that will make the debt more expensive.

…. But the tax cuts passed late last year have created a deeper hole, with the deficit increasing faster than expected.”

The NYT publishes select facts to push their political bias.

I subscribe to Tony’s Growth Stock Advisor and I highly recommend it. Tony was kind enough to offer our readers a 50% discount off the first-year price of $99, meaning right now you can start a trial subscription for just $49. He also offers a 60-day full money-back guarantee. If you are...

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) said Thursday it had received ZAR100 million (about $7 million) from South Africa’s IDC — of the largest development financiers in southern Africa —  to boost development at its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho.

The company, which commissioned a 1.1 million tonne a year treatment plant at the mine, said the loan will considerably strengthen Mothae’s cash position.

The news comes as the company is in the midst of getting the mine, in which the Lesotho government hold a 30% stake, ready for commercial production.

Lucapa expects to see its first for-sale diamonds from the mine in early November and plans to increase production to its intended levels during the fourth quarter.

Lucapa has already exported about 2,500 carats of rough diamonds to Antwerp from its recent bulk sampling. It plans to ship the remainder of the 4,100 carats to the Belgian city ahead of the first scheduled sale in the fourth quarter.

Mothae’s former owner, Lucara Diamond, achieved sale prices of up to $57,000 per carat during trial mining between 2008 and 2012, Lucapa said. During that process, Lucara recovered approximately 23,400 carats, including 96 individual stones over 10 carats and one 254-carat stone.

The Mothae project is located within 5 km of Gem Diamonds' (LON:GEMD) Letšeng mine, which in February yielded a 910-carat rock, the fifth biggest gem-quality diamond ever found.

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