Diamond News Archives

Angola’s head of presidential security, Minister Pedro Sebastiao, said this weekend that some 380,000 illegal migrants, mostly from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, have left his country in the past month due to the massive, government-led ‘Operation Transparency’ which is targeting diamond smuggling.

According to Sebastiao, diamonds worth more than $1 million had been seized in the course of the operation, as well as 59 weapons. Over 200 premises for illegal diamond trading were also dismantled.

The government official said that about a 1,000 people are crossing different border posts every day. Angola and the DRC share the longest land border in Africa.

Despite the magnitude and scale of the operation, which is expected to last for two years, the minister dismissed allegations of forced returns and police violence against the migrants. He emphasized that the program does not have a xenophobic character.

However, Agence France-Presse reports that many Congolese have said they were brutally thrown out of Angola, that their houses had been burnt by police and gangs, and that they were attacked with machetes and beaten as they fled.

Clashes have also been reported between Congolese, Angolan security forces and local Angolans in several northern provinces.

But in Sebastiao’s view, the crackdown across the northern and western parts of the African country is just aimed at ensuring that diamond reserves are correctly exploited.

Angola is the world’s No.4 diamond producer by value and No.6 by volume, with companies such as Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) frequently finding massive precious rocks underneath its soil.

The industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully emerging from a long period of difficulty as a result of a civil war that ended...

The U.K. has warned that a no-deal Brexit risks London being frozen out of the global diamond trade.

Britain is a member of the Kimberley Process, the global certification program used to track and prevent the trade of conflict gems, through its European Union membership. The country will need to apply for its own membership post Brexit, and the government last week warned diamond traders that any delays caused by a no-deal scenario may see shipments grinding to a temporary halt.Traders should consider having rough diamonds that they own outside the U.K. shipped to the country before it leaves the EU in March to ensure they can get their stones

“We cannot at this stage rule out the possibility that we could exit the EU neither with a deal nor immediate independent participation,” the U.K.’s foreign office said in a letter to traders. “In this very unlikely case, you would not be able to trade internationally in rough diamonds until we had secured our KP participation.”

London was once the global hub of the rough-diamond industry when De Beers sold nearly all the world’s stones from its fortress like headquarters at 17 Charterhouse Street. But volumes fell after 2000 when the company’s monopoly ended and dwindled to almost nothing after it moved sales operations in 2013 to Botswana, where most of its diamonds are mined.

London Route

Still, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, which represents the Belgian city’s diamond merchants, said some major producers still use London as a conduit into Europe.

“These goods are then transported through the EU common market to Antwerp to be sorted and traded here,” the AWDC said. “It is AWDC’s goal to ensure that these trade flows continue to pass through Antwerp, even after Brexit.”...

Total proceeds from Mountain Province Diamonds’ (TSX: MPVD) latest sale were $24.2 million netted from 366,505 carats, the company announced today.

“These results were in line with our expectations and reflect current market conditions. We saw good price bids for our better quality larger goods where, the majority of our value lies,” said Stuart Brown, Mountain Province Diamonds president in a statement.

“In the lower qualities and smaller sizes, we saw average price declines in the mid single digits.  We believe the price pressure is predominantly driven by the recent rapid weakening of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar and to some extent the seasonal lower demand for rough diamonds ahead of the Diwali celebrations.” The price pressure is predominantly driven by the recent rapid weakening of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar

Brown also said the company has noted some good reporting of diamond retail jewellery sales, particularly in the US where demand remains strong.  Brown added that the Chinese retail market is also strong and showing positive momentum despite the most recent uncertainty in Chinese capital markets.

Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.  Gahcho Kué is the world's largest new diamond mine, consisting of a cluster of four kimberlites, three of which are being developed and mined under the initial 12-year mine plan.

The post Mountain Province Diamonds latest sale nets $24 million appeared first on MINING.com....

(IDEX Online) – This week the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) welcomed the Israel Diamond Exchange and its members for the fall edition of Israel Diamond Week at the DDC. <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

As in the past, members of both bourses exhibited their goods on the DDC trading floor, now located at 50 West 47th Street.

Reports of the week have indicated an increase in business sales and opportunities due to the show, the DDC said. “It's a well-organized [show],” said Matan Mizrachi of Double M Diamonds. "It's a good vibe, people want to buy."

Mizrachi's sentiments were echoed by exhibitors from both bourses and attendees. “

This is the second Israel Diamond Week hosted on the DDC’s brand new trading floor in the IGT building since its inaugural show in January.

"We appreciate the close relationship and the longstanding partnership between the IDE and DDC," said Yoram Dvash, President of the IDE. "I would like to thank DDC President Reuven Kaufman and the DDC's wonderful staff who made sure that this edition of the Israel Diamond Week at the DDC was a success."

"The club is beautiful, good for business," said Golan Hallel of Y. Dvash Diamonds.

Joseph Khafi of Diatraco Corp attributes the "uptick in interest and in attendance... [to] the new premises," which "much more conducive to business."

The positive responses to the show are tangible. "The show is great so far, good traffic, we met new customers," said Yael Harel of Nissay Diamonds,  adding that it is "much better in the new...