Exclusive
Diamond market crash is Africa’s opportunity, not its crisis – M'zée Fula Ngenge
Global natural diamond supply is forecast to fall below 95 million carats this year, the lowest since 1987. For Dr. M'zée Fula Ngenge, chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC), this is not a death knell but a clarion call. In an exclusive...
Yesterday
Tracr passes 5 million rough diamonds milestone as De Beers expands provenance push
De Beers Group's blockchain-enabled traceability platform Tracr reached a significant milestone in 2025, with more than 5 million rough diamonds individually scanned and registered, up from 2.8 million cumulative registrations reported in 2024. The...
28 september 2026
South African diamonds head to Hong Kong: SDT partners with BRINKS for JGW 2026
South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) has confirmed the country's participation in Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (JGW) 2026 through a partnership with BRINKS. SDT marketing and communication manager Tsholofelo Gopolang Tselapedi...
14 september 2026
David Benderly: PermaScribe seeks to put trust mark on diamond table, not just girdle
In this interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, PhotoScribe Technologies president and chief executive David Benderly explains how PermaScribe differs technically from conventional laser inscription, its potential to strengthen security, and...
31 august 2026
The great reset: Paul Zimnisky on supply catharsis, De Beers' bargain and the case for natural diamonds
The natural diamond industry is in the throes of its most profound reset in a generation. Supply is plunging to its lowest level since 1987 and De Beers—once valued at over $9 billion—is reportedly being sold for as little as $1 billion.
Lab-grown...
10 august 2026
Prospects for platinum in geopolitics
12 september 2022
Both production and demand for platinum were under pressure in the first half of this year. Supply has been hit by disruptions in South Africa, where major producers have adjusted production targets amid bad weather and drawdown of work-in-progress inventories accumulated during the pandemic. Demand was affected by the Ukrainian conflict that exacerbated the situation in the automotive industry where recovery was already delayed due to the ongoing semiconductor scarcity. The price reached a 9-month high of $1,180 per ounce because of concerns about the availability of metal from Russia (which provides 10% of the global platinum and 40% of the global palladium production), but it corrected by almost 30% by September. At the same time, long-term forecasts of producers assume a rapid reduction in the platinum supply with almost excellent demand for it. The development of the hydrogen economy accelerated by the EU’s desire to reduce its dependence on the Russian gas, and its high prices are expected to be an important driver for this.
Russia in the global market of coloured gemstones: semi-precious stones and alexandrite
05 september 2022
The issue touched on in this article needs to be explained. In Russia, federal law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones” No. 41-FZ is in force. The law does not define what “precious stones by law” are, but a list of the stones is given: “precious stones - natural diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and alexandrites, as well as natural rough pearls (unworked) and worked pearls. Unique amber pieces are equated to precious stones in the way established by the Government of the Russian Federation. Man-made materials having the characteristics (properties) of precious stones are not precious stones”. The distinguishing of precious stones among other jewellery stones is not always obvious; while the concept of a natural rough diamond as a mineral and the concept of a pearl as an organic substance really do not require a legal definition, the precious stones like emerald, ruby, sapphire and alexandrite listed in the law are just varieties of minerals called beryl, corundum and chrysoberyl, distinguished rather conditionally and subjectively.
ICMM Report: Members’ safety performance in 2021
29 august 2022
The International Council of Metals and Mining [ICMM] published a report recently that analysis the safety performance of its members in 2021. The report reveals that despite the industry’s focus on operational, cultural and leadership transformation that has reduced fatalities in recent years it has still not achieved the goal of zero harm.
Silver, platinum and palladium as investment instruments
22 august 2022
In addition to gold, both private investors and professionals can invest in silver, platinum and palladium. The dynamics of prices for these metals depends on many factors.
Why did Angola increase its stake in Catoca?
15 august 2022
The Angolan state diamond company Endiama increased its stake in Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, making it the majority owner of the miner, which produces about 75% of all the diamonds mined in the southern African country. “The attorney general's Office of the Republic of Angola blocked LLI’s participation in Catoca in 2021 and transferred control of this 18% stake to the state body IGAPE,” Catoca said in a statement seen by The Financial Times. “Therefore, Angola holds 59% of the shares in Catoca.”
Mining companies and indigenous peoples – mutually beneficial partnership
08 august 2022
The ninth of August is celebrated under the auspices of the United Nations as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. On our planet, there are more than 200 million people belonging to aboriginal peoples and ethnic groups. Today, they often inhabit ecologically vulnerable but resource-rich regions. That is why it is important to maintain a balance between the interests of indigenous peoples inhabiting their ancestral lands and industrial companies operating in these regions.
Russia in the global market of coloured jewellery stones: what is at stake
01 august 2022
According to Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1203 dated November 30, 1995, consolidated information about Russian exports and imports of precious stones, except for natural rough diamonds, is classified as a state secret. Thus, it is impossible to assess the role of Russia in the world market of coloured gemstones based on the data of the Federal Customs Service, Federal State Statistics Service or the Ministry of Finance of Russia. Although the data on the precious stones’ balance reserves in the Russia’s subsoil are not secret, as well as the volumes of their extraction from the earth’s depths and production, nevertheless, it is better to focus exclusively on the available data on exports and imports obtained from foreign sources to avoid the risk of violating this Decree. For an expert assessment, the data on the global trade in rubies, sapphires and emeralds obtained from the Internet platform Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) and maintained by Datawheel will be used, (https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/rubies-sapphires-and-emeralds-worked-but-not-set).
Debmarine Namibia’s «Benguela Gem» makes its mark in marine diamond mining
25 july 2022
Debmarine Namibia, a 50:50 joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government, increased its production by 96% in the second quarter of the year to 488 000 carats compared with 249 000 carats, a year earlier. Data released by De Beers also showed that Debmarine Namibia improved its first half output by 73% to 863 000 carats from the previous year's 498 000 carats.
The strong showing from Debmarine helped boost De Beers' Namibia production by 67% to 600 000 carats during the second quarter. Of all the four countries De Beers has operations in, only Namibia registered an increased production. The increase was attributed to the continued strong performance of the «Benguela Gem» diamond recovery vessel previously known as the AMV3.
Innovation helps Indian diamond industry overcome challenges
18 july 2022
History reveals that the Indian diamond industry has seen many ups and downs, but the resilient sector has always returned stronger, albeit a little shaken! Some 90 per cent of the world's diamonds are cut and polished in Surat and elsewhere in the western state of Gujarat-India. This time around too has not been very different. The industry was shaken but not broken by the geopolitical situation that left India’s cutting & polishing sector impacted by the rough diamond shortage. However, at present, the diamond manufacturing industry has returned, like the phoenix, to its usual buzzling self, thanks to some innovations by the ever-adapting Indian diamond industry.
Can gold coins help halt Zim's runaway inflation?
11 july 2022
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) recently announced plans to start selling gold coins towards the end of July as a store of value to curb galloping inflation, which is eroding the local currency. The country’s annual inflation reached about 192% in June, according to official figures.
