Diamond News Archives

Pallinghurst Resources’s precious gemstones miner Gemfields is standing up to disturbing allegations of human rights abuses at the company’s Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique, and disclosed it’s now target of a legal claim on behalf of 29 locals.

The company, the world's top coloured gems producer, accounting for roughly a third of the global supply of emeralds and rubies, revealed that human rights law firm Leigh Day had lodged a claim against the company and its Mozambican operating subsidiary, Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM).

The allegations, said the company, come from individuals living in or around the mine in northern Mozambique, the world’s most lucrative ruby operation. Those claims range, it said, from death and mistreatment of artisanal or unlicensed miners on the property to taking land without due process, often in collusion with security forces in the form of police or military.

The legal action seeks to hold Gemfields liable for alleged police actions against illegal miners, as it was the company who called officers on to Montepuez.

In the nine years since ruby deposits were first discovered in Montepuez, where the Gemfields concession is located and operated by its 75%-owned subsidiary MRM, locals say they have been forced off their land; armed robberies and violence have soared as speculators have flocked to the area; and a growing number of small-scale miners have been beaten and shot. Some say miners even have been buried alive.

The AIM-listed coloured gems miner, which owns the luxury Fabergé jewellery brand, refutes such accusations.

“Gemfields and MRM take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and denounce any form of violence or abuse,” it said in a press statement. “MRM provides human rights training meeting the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights to both employees and service providers, in addition to offering this training voluntarily to the Mozambican police and government forces,” it noted.

Gemfields added that Leigh Day is well known for bringing claims of this nature and for leveraging adverse media coverage. “A number of the allegations seem to be recycled from media coverage in 2015 and 2016, including by the Mail & Guardian, which the South African Press Ombudsman ruled was ‘inaccurate, false and damaging,’ ordering that an apology be issued,” the company said.

Gemfields acknowledged that instances of violence had occurred on and off the MRM licence area, both before and after its arrival in Montepuez. It said those had often been between rival groups of artisanal miners and their handlers competing for control of territory, or involving security forces, typically in preserving the safety and wellbeing of employees, service providers and members of the local community.

However, where such incidents had occurred, including instances involving its own employees, MRM had taken appropriate steps, said Gemfields, which is the world's biggest coloured gems producer, accounting...

(IDEX Online) – Thailand's Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) will hold the 61st edition of the Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair (BGJF) under the theme of “Heritage & Craftsmanship”.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

The February 21 to 25 fair will "highlight Thailand’s cultural heritage and the exquisite craftsmanship of Thai artisans that is internationally renowned". The 61st BGJF is expected to welcome over 20,000 buyers and visitors from more than 130 countries.

DITP Director-General Chantira Jimreivat Vivatrat (pictured above) said that the 61st Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair will serve as a prominent stage to promote the capabilities and support large Thai manufacturers as well as SMEs (small and medium size manufacturers) to expand their businesses to international markets while networking and trading with partners from Thailand and other countries.

“In 2017, the gems and jewelry industry was ranked as the third exporting industry in Thailand after automotives and computers and parts, with exports of gems and jewelry, excluding unwrought gold, increasing by 2.25%, which was the first time the industry saw growth in the past three years. Moreover, the outlook for 2018 is positive and the gems and jewelry industry remains a key part of the economy that generates income and adds value for Thailand,” she said.

Highlights at the fair include inspirational activities and exhibitions as well as new trading opportunities, from The Niche Showcase that exhibits five niche jewelry trends, The New Faces that highlights the best of Thai SMEs from all regions, a showcase zone that will be greatly expanded this year, to exhibitions and workshops from The Jewellers, a group of designers who focus on creative and innovation jewelry-making. Moreover, educational seminars and one-on-one consulting services from experts will be on offer as well as a mobile gems analyzing unit from GIT and other world-leading institutes.

“The 61st Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair offers an opportunity for participants to meet manufacturers, distributors and over 900 leading exporters from Thailand and other countries who will be exhibiting all categories of products in the gems and jewelry industry in over 2,200 booths, with exhibitors from countries such as the US, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries. DITP expects that this edition of the fair will generate over THB 2 billion in sales and see over 20,000 international buyers and visitors,” says the DITP Director-General.

The 61st Bangkok Gems & Jewelry Fair will take place at Challenger Hall 1-3, IMPACT Muang Thong Thani for the trade from February 21-23, and open for the general public on February 24....

(IDEX Online) – Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. said its recently completed first diamond sale of 2018 produced the highest result to date in total dollar terms, with total sales of $27.3 million for an average value per carat of $78, and $83 on a normalized basis.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine located in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The diamonds offered were sourced from the last production split of 2017.

"The stronger realized values reflect the improved size distribution observed in that split as well as the quality of the fancies and specials. In addition, robust demand saw prices increase an average of approximately 7% over those of the preceding sale held in December. Only half of the fancies and specials from the last production split of 2017 were offered in the sale, with the remainder deferred for inclusion in the upcoming second sale of 2018."

Reid Mackie, the company’s Vice President Diamond Marketing, said: “Our January sale broke all records in terms of revenue and customer activity. More than 200 companies participated, with 140 placing bids and delivering our highest revenue figure to date. Particularly promising is that all product areas saw healthy price increases, especially the large, special stone category which achieved both record prices per carat and the highest value individual stone sold by Mountain Province to date.”

David Whittle, the company’s Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The results of this sale were driven not only by the quality of the diamonds on offer but stronger rough diamond prices generally, as we experienced an improvement in customer sentiment similar to that which has been reported by the industry generally. We have experienced general rough diamond price increases of approximately 12% since October, supporting a view of improving market fundamentals. Operationally, we note the strong plant throughput in January, representing exceptional performance in the heart of winter.”...

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) announced that, for the first time, workers at its 70% owned Mothae mine in Lesotho have recovered diamonds sourced from residual material and kimberlite stockpiles.

In a press release, the company explained that the gems were recovered through the existing bulk sampling plant and infrastructure at Mothae, which has been refurbished ahead of schedule as part of a previously announced bulk sampling program. This program, Lucapa explained, was designed to provide additional resource and diamond data to expand the life of mine, while also generating early cash flows.

According to the media statement, the largest diamond recovered in the first test run was 6.6 carats. The stone was admired by Lucapa representatives, advisors, brokers and investors who visited the site following the Mining Indaba Conference that took place in Cape Town on February 5-8, 2018.

Mothae is located within 5 km of Gem Diamonds' (LON:GEMD) Letšeng mine, which in mid-January yielded a 910-carat rock, the fifth biggest gem-quality diamond ever found. “Like Letšeng, trial mining has demonstrated Mothae to be a source of large and premium-value diamonds,” the firm’s website states.

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