Diamond News Archives

The board of directors at Stellar Diamonds (LON:STEL) recommended Monday a merger with Australia’s Newfield Resources (ASX: NWF), which also operates in Sierra Leone.

The all-share takeover by the Sydney-listed company offers 0.76 Newfield shares for each Stellar one, valuing the diamond miner at £7.74 million (about $10.8 million).

Under the deal, Newfield will lend Stellar $3 million to help it over its immediate short-term cash needs, while undertaking a right issue to raise A$30 million (roughly $23.6m) to re-finance the blended company.

According to the parties, the sum is a premium of around 154% to Stellar’s share price of 4.9p shortly before news of the deal broke in February.

Existing Stellar shareholders will own 8.14% of the group following the merger and financing.

Newfield’s acquisition allows for mining the combined and contiguous Tongo and Tonguma concessions, which is expected to create one of the largest diamond mines in West Africa, with an estimate resource of 4.5 million carats.

The boards of both companies believe the combination would create an enlarged and well-funded diamond development group with a number of highly prospective licences in Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as an experienced management team with combined 100+ years of experience in the diamond sector.

The Aussie miner’s exploration in Sierra Leone has led to the discovery of kimberlites in its licence areas, while bulk sampling from some alluvial deposits has resulted in diamond sales at over $450 per carat.

Newfield also holds several gold projects in Western Australia.

Tongo-Tonguma lies to the north-east of Newfield’s Allotropes diamond project.

Shares in Stellar rose by 51% to 7.42p.

The post Newfield acquires Stellar Diamonds for $23.6 million appeared first on MINING.com....

(IDEX Online) – The World Federation of Diamond Bourses' (WFDB) Executive Committee Meeting takes place in Idar-Oberstein today, with the meeting tackling a full agenda of issues ahead of the 38th World Diamond Congress in Tel Aviv in June. The meeting is being hosted by the Diamant-und Edelsteinborse Idar Oberstein.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

"We have a very full agenda of issues to discuss since the last ExCo meeting relating to WFDB matters, but also to the wider global diamond industry," said WFDB President Ernie Blom (pictured above). "This is the last time that the Executive Committee will be gathering before the World Diamond Congress so we have a large list of issues to discuss and decisions to be made.

"I would like to thank the Idar-Oberstein bourse for again hosting the Executive Committee meeting," Blom said. "This is by no means something that we take for granted. It takes a lot of effort and resources, and I know I speak for all the Executive Committee when I thank Germany's diamond and precious stones exchange for kindly agreeing to hold the meeting here," Blom added....

A multidisciplinary and multiethnic team of scientists just published a paper in Nature where they explain the implications of having found calcium silicate perovskites contained within a tiny South African diamond.

The gem was dug from the Cullinan mine, located 40 kilometres east of Pretoria, where the world's largest rough diamond was found in 1905. The mine was also the source of two of the largest diamonds in the British Crown Jewels.

According to the researchers, CaSiO3 is the fourth most abundant mineral on Earth but only recently they were able to prove that it exists in a stable form, as it forms deep inside Earth’s mantle. Such confirmation, possible thanks to the fact that the mineral was trapped in an unyielding container, provided new insights into the processes that govern the planet’s interior.

The authors of the paper, who ran X-ray and spectroscopy tests to confirm their suspicions, believe the perovskite-containing diamond likely formed some 700 km deep in the Earth and must have sustained 24 billion pascals of pressure, equivalent to 240,000 atmospheres.

“Based on our findings, there could be as much as zetta tonnes (1021) of this perovskite in deep Earth,” co-author Graham Pearson, who is a professor in the University of Alberta’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said in a statement. "The specific composition of the perovskite inclusion in this particular diamond very clearly indicates the recycling of oceanic crust into Earth’s lower mantle. It provides fundamental proof of what happens to the fate of oceanic plates as they descend into the depths of the Earth," he added.

Th scientific article also states that it is important to confirm the presence of calcium silicate perovskites deep in Earth because they are the dominant hosts for calcium and the major sink for heat-producing elements (potassium, uranium and thorium) in the transition zone and lower mantle.

“Diamonds are really unique ways of seeing what’s in the Earth,” Pearson concluded.

The post South African diamond provides new clues on Earth's internal processes appeared first on MINING.com....

(IDEX Online) – The JCK Industry Fund will again provide a grant to the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F) in support of its Diamonds Do Good Initiative, a consumer-facing initiative designed to highlight to consumers the collective good works of the diamond and jewelry industry. This year’s grant is $100,000.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

Research shows 75% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase a diamond after reading positive stories about how the industry gives back. “Putting forward a positive narrative surrounding diamonds is essential,” says D.E.F president and GIA senior vice president Anna Martin. “Sharing these stories with our customers is not only good for business, it is a responsibility for the entire industry.”

Now in its third year, the Diamonds Do Good Initiative was launched with the help of the JCK Industry Fund, and uses a storytelling format to reach and connect with consumers through hyper-targeted digital destinations and social media. Last year alone achieved 264 million consumer impressions of the Diamonds Do Good message. To help retailers connect these stories with consumers, D.E.F created a digital toolkit with the help of board member Kathy Corey of Day’s Jewelers. The kit can be accessed by clicking here.

A check presentation will take place at this year’s JCK show in Las Vegas where D.E.F. will be kicking off the weekend with its annual Diamonds Do Good Awards on Thursday, May 31 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Says Yancy Weinrich, Senior Vice President of Reed Jewelry Group, and on behalf of the JCK Industry Fund Committee, “We are honored to be part of this passionate community that continues to meet challenges with opportunities for growth and innovation”.

Information on the Diamonds Do Good Initiative can be found in the latest edition of D.E.F.’s GOOD Report....