‘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

Russia to launch educational program about the Arctic in 2025

19 february 2024

The Northern Forum, an international organization of the northern regions, will launch a pilot online educational program about the Arctic starting next academic year, said Vladimir Vasiliev, head of the organization.

"Even the inhabitants of the North themselves do not know much about the Arctic, not to mention the southern countries and regions. We plan to create an international network of partner schools of the Northern Forum. On this basis, we will launch a program of additional education in an online format. Lectures will be given by leading northern scientists from the Arctic countries," he explained.

The Northern Forum unites the governors of the northern regions and is considered a tool for expanding non-political dialogue between the governors of the northern regions of different countries, heads of municipalities and other organizations.

The Northern Forum includes a number of regions of the Russian Federation, the state of Alaska (USA), Gangwon Province (Republic of Korea), as well as nine business partners from Russia, Iceland, Norway, the USA, and Japan.

Since 2013, the secretariat of the Northern Forum has been located in Yakutsk, tass.ru reports.

Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished