New models in Harry Winston’s Ocean Biretrograde collection reaffirm the brand’s status as one of the world’s most important purveyors of diamonds. Before the Swatch Group acquired Harry Winston in 2013, it was owned by Dominion Diamond company, the joint venture partner in Canada’s first diamond mine, Ekati, which entitled the company to first pick … Read more
According to the official, synthetics will “compromise” the value of Botswana’s natural diamonds Mmetla Masire, permanent secretary at Botswana’s Ministry of Minerals, said in a Parliamentary Accounts Committee quoted by Rough & Polished that Botswana cannot engage in production and sale of synthetic diamonds as this will compromise “the value of our diamonds”. Credit: Debswana Masire said … Read more
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has teamed up with IBM Research to develop an automated system for grading the clarity of a diamond. The artificial intelligence (AI) technology uses data from tens of millions of diamonds GIA laboratories have examined in the past, applying the institute’s existing grading standards. It’s already in limited use … Read more
Western Australia has reduced its diamond royalty rate by a significant 33.3 per cent, a move that has been welcomed by Gibb River Diamonds. The company’s lobbying has led to the reduction of the state diamond gross royalty rate from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent. Gibb River stated that the royalty change was … Read more
Alrosa Zimbabwe (Alrosa Zim), a joint venture (JV) between Russian diamond miner Alrosa and Zimbabwe State-owned miner Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), has started prospecting and preliminary exploration works for primary diamond deposits. After getting special grants from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, Alrosa Zim had the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) approved by the … Read more
Petra Diamonds (PDL.L) has agreed to sell its Botswanan exploration assets to Botswana Diamonds (BODP.L) for $300,000 and a 5% royalty on future revenue, the diamond miner, which is in the process of restructuring, said on Monday. The purchase price will be payable in two equal instalments on or before August 31, 2021 and August … Read more
Lucara is to sell all its larger rough diamonds through the Antwerp-based HB Group in what it describes as a “groundbreaking partnership”. The Canadian miner has a reputation for high-value type IIa diamonds at its Karowe Mine, in Botswana, and was proud to announce its discovery of the 1,758-carat Sewelo (pictured), the world’s second largest … Read more
De Beers’ sales and production nosedived in the second quarter as the coronavirus crushed diamond demand throughout the pipeline and forced shutdowns at several mines. “Demand for rough diamonds was significantly impacted by a combination of Covid-19 restrictions [affecting] consumer demand and access to southern Africa, as well as severely limited midstream cutting-and-polishing capacity due … Read more
The world’s second-largest miner, Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO), announced that Hong Kong-based coloured diamond specialist Kunming Diamonds is now one of the company’s 13 authorized partners for Argyle pink diamonds. In a press release, Rio said this means Kunming will be entrusted with the care and custody of the gems. Established in 1987, … Read more
The Indian government has granted diamond companies extra time to ship polished goods back to the country without incurring customs duty. At present, reimports are subject to the 7.5% levy once the diamonds have been outside India for three months. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the deadline by a … Read more