‘AI is the engine, diamonds are preserved upside down, copper currently the path to value’ – Botswana Minerals’ Campbell on strategy shift

Botswana Minerals has positioned itself as a data-led, multi-commodity explorer, placing copper at the centre of its growth strategy while retaining diamond assets for future upside, Managing Director James Campbell has told Rough & Polished. In an exclusive...

13 april 2026

Emanuel Vieira Lopes: Angola's new digital mining cadastre to reduce permit times by a third

Angola's new Digital Mining Cadastre (CMA) is on track to reduce average permitting timelines by one-third once fully deployed, according to Emanuel Vieira Lopes, Advisor to the Secretary of State for Mineral Resources. In an interview with...

06 april 2026

Paul Zimnisky warns diamond trade at "crossroads" as geopolitical tensions, pending De Beers sale, and LGDs reshape market

As geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East, diamond industry analyst Paul Zimnisky warns that the impact is most acute at trading hubs like Dubai, where flight cancellations and travel fears are keeping buyers away. In a wide-ranging interview...

30 march 2026

From Harry Oppenheimer’s Kimberley House to Hong Kong: SDT's Conrad Van Der Ross on 35 years in diamonds

South Africa's State Diamond Trader (SDT) operations manager Conrad Van Der Ross has witnessed the diamond industry transform over three and a half decades—from his nervous start as a De Beers trainee sorter in pre-democracy South Africa...

23 march 2026

Rough diamond shortage squeezes emerging South African beneficiators, Macs Diamonds founder warns

South Africa’s Macs Diamonds founder Macdonald Mogale has identified a shortage of rough diamonds as the most pressing challenge facing emerging beneficiators amid prolonged subdued market conditions. Speaking to Rough & Polished, Mogale noted that the...

16 march 2026

Port capacity on the Northern Sea Route increased to 40.5 million tons in 2023

16 february 2024

The capacity of Russian ports on the Northern Sea Route has increased to 40.5 million tons in 2023. This exceeds the planned figure of 36 million tons laid down in the "Development of the NSR" federal project by 12%, said Maxim Kulinko, Deputy Director of the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route of the Rosatom State Corporation.

The most important projects that made it possible to achieve the NSR development plan were the work at the Utrenny terminal (PJSC NOVATEK) and the construction of a gravity-type base with a displacement of over 600,000 tons along the Sea Channel of the Gulf of Ob.

"We ensured that the deadline for the implementation of NOVATEK's most important investment project was met," Kulinko said.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished