Category: Diamond

Botswana’s State-run diamond trader reported record revenue last year with sales surging almost five fold after imports from the US recovered from a Covid-19 induced slowdown. Okavango Diamond Company sold $963-million of rough diamonds last year, said Dennis Tlaang, a company spokesman. The revenue was the most since the company began operations in 2012, he said. “The demand for natural rough diamonds remained strong throughout 2021 driven primarily by positive market sentiment in key markets such as the United States,” Tlaang said. Sales may rise further this year after De Beers,… Read More Here

De Beers has implemented its biggest price increase for diamonds in years as the industry consolidates its recovery from the first pandemic-induced shutdowns. The Anglo American unit hiked prices by about 8% at its first sale of the year, according to Bloomberg. The sharpest increases of up to 20% were for smaller, cheaper stones. The changes at the January sight, which runs from Monday to Friday this week, reflected buoyant polished sales during the recent US festive period, as well as a hot rough market. The company increased the price of… Read More Here

Shares in Botswana Diamonds soared on Wednesday after the company revealed that its Thorny River project in South Africa was likely to hold kimberlite volumes “considerably better than expected.” The stock rose as much as 19%, reaching 1.1p each in early morning trade, and, while it lost some of the gains, it was still trading almost 11% at 1.02p by mid-afternoon. That put the company market capitalization at £8.71 million (almost $12m). Botswana Diamonds said that following a preliminary assessment of Thorny River’s kimberlite potential, it estimated the asset hosts about 2… Read More Here

De Beers, the world’s largest diamond miner by value, said on Tuesday it had applied to conduct exploration activities in north-eastern Angola, following reforms implemented by the country’s government to boost the sector. The company, a unit of Anglo American (LON: AAL), and the country authorities will start discussions around a mineral investment contract, De Beers said. The agreement would set legally binding terms and conditions to be met by both parties for activities in north-eastern. The nation’s diamond industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully emerging from a… Read More Here

Sales of rough diamonds by Debswana Diamond Company jumped 73% in the first nine months of 2021, statistics released by the Bank of Botswana showed on Tuesday, driven by the reopening of U.S. and China’s consumer markets. Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American business De Beers and the Botswana government, sells 75% of its output to De Beers, with the balance taken up by state-owned Okavango Diamond Company. Debswana sales fell by 30% in 2020 as the covid-19 pandemic hit demand while global travel restrictions hurt trading. Botswana closed… Read More Here

Diamond miner Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe mine, in Botswana, produced 97 412 ct of diamonds in the third quarter ended September 30, compared with the 88 909 ct produced in the third quarter of 2020. Production included 212 “special” diamonds weighing more than 10.8 ct each. Also of significance was the recovery of four pink diamonds from direct milling from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. This included a 62.7 ct high-quality, fancy pink Type IIa gem diamond and a 22.21 ct pink gem of similar quality, along with… Read More Here

Botswana Diamonds) said on Wednesday it had exercised pre-emptive right to acquire the outstanding third-party interests in its South African unit and parts of the Thorny River project, which gives the company control of the asset.  The company will issue 56.99 million shares, valued at about £627,000 (about $844,000), as purchase consideration for the third-party interests in Vutomi Mining, its South African associate that holds the mineral rights for Thorny, and Razorbill Properties 12.  “We are very positive on the production opportunities for the Thorny River properties owned by Vutomi,” chairperson John Teeling said in the statement. “An outside company made an offer for Vutomi. Rather than accept the offer, we… Read More Here