De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers

Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...

22 july 2024

DiaMondaine Diamantaires Club mulls diamond safari tours in southern Africa

DiaMondaine Diamantaires Club (DDC) is set to organise diamond safari tours in southern Africa, home to major diamond-producing countries. DDC founder Agnes Abdulahu told Rough&Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa that the launch of the first diamond safari...

15 july 2024

Vladislav Zhdanov: Questions of efficiency and investment potential of diamond mining versus diamond growing pique keen interest

Vladislav Zhdanov is Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE). He told Rough&Polished about new researches into the effectiveness of diamond production methods.

02 july 2024

Why it's expensive to cut and polish diamonds in Africa? ADMA president António Oliveira has the answer

The African Diamond Manufacturers Association (ADMA) president António Oliveira told Rough&Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that the lack of a robust infrastructure in Africa fails to accelerate and encourage manufacturing...

24 june 2024

Edahn Golan: IPO feasible but not Anglo’s preferred way to sell De Beers

Edahn Golan, owner of the eponymous Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data, told Rough&Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that while an IPO of De Beers is “feasible,"  he does not think this is a route Anglo American...

17 june 2024

The Great Scientific Expedition of Norilsk Nickel and RAS used UAVs and AI to collect data

20 february 2024

Participants of the Great Scientific Expedition of Norilsk Nickel and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) used latest technologies to collect and quickly analyze research data, said Olga Krever, Deputy Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution Roszapovedtsentr, at the conference on the results of the expedition.

Among the technologies used by scientists were Orlan unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and real-time data analysis systems based on artificial intelligence (AI). With their help, the expedition members tracked, in particular, the population of polar bears and the birthplaces of their offspring on Wrangel Island and the Bear Islands.

The data obtained will form the basis of Norilsk Nickel’s corporate system for managing the impact on biodiversity, and will also be used to develop programs for its conservation and monitoring. Norilsk Nickel openly talks about new projects and changes taking place in ecosystems.

“The resulting picture of the state of the environment and biodiversity has already allowed us to adjust current environmental programs,” said Andrey Grachev, vice president for federal and regional programs at Norilsk Nickel.

“Caring for nature, reducing anthropogenic impact, and developing environmentally effective solutions are the basis of responsible business.”

Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished