Diamond News Archives

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa has resumed operations at another low-output mine, as the demand for rough recovers.

The Zarnitsa open-pit mine (pictured), in Yakutia, Russia, stopped production in May 2020 as the market slumped, but the state-owned miner said it resumed operations on 1 July.

Ore from Zarnitsa - one of the first primary diamond deposits discovered in the then-USSR -  will not be processed until next year, when production volume is predicted to be 600,000 carats, double the figure for 2020.

Last month Alrosa re-opened another low-output deposit, the Zarya open pit, also in Yakutia, which produced 257,000 carats in 2020.

Earlier this week it warned of "a long period of supply deficit" as demand remained high, rough diamond stocks at the Indian mid-stream segment were low, and miners' rough stocks hit rock bottom levels....

(IDEX Online) - The government of Zimbabwe admits it has lost 350,000 carats of rough diamonds, with an estimated value of $140m.

They were stored at repositories belonging to Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC).  Both are wholly owned by the government.

In a newly-released report, the country's Auditor-General Mildred Chiri said serious loopholes in diamond stock reconciliation provided opportunities for looting, according to the New Zimbabwe news website.

"Sometimes laxity in systems can be created to enable corrupt or fraud behaviour to thrive," Chiri said.

Some of the diamonds had been sold to dealers who smuggled them out of Zimbabwe for foreign currency, she said.

Zimbabwe's rough typically sells for $400 a carat, valuing the 350,000 carats at $140m.

ZCDC responded to the report with a pledge to engage a diamond stock controller to prevent future "leakages".

Generic pic of rough diamonds...