News
Tharisa meets FY2026 guidance, Karo Platinum fully funded as net debt swings to $51m
Tharisa has reported full-year production in line with guidance for both platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome concentrates, while confirming its Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe is now fully funded following a $300 million bond issue.
Today
Israel’s diamond sector poised for revival following tax reforms and De Beers comeback
De Beers, one of the world's major diamond market players, has announced the resumption of its operations in Israel after a nine-year absence, which became the latest sign of revival of the diamond industry in the country.
Today
Kefi Gold and Copper restarts Tulu Kapi development after safety review
Kefi Gold and Copper has resumed development at its Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia following a suspension that began on September 7 after a serious safety incident three days earlier.
Today
Nornickel implements smart melt monitoring system
Norilsk Nickel has installed a smart melt monitoring system at its metallurgical plant in Norilsk in collaboration with Reksoft. The system uses computer vision to assist the converter operator in identifying phases during the tapping process.
Today
ALROSA to help amplify Arctic agenda at UN
In preparation for the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), ALROSA experts and other stakeholders from Russia discussed a unified approach to strengthening the country’s position and the Arctic agenda at UN climate conferences.
Today
Zimnisky: Hard to protect lab-diamond price as production methods, economics improve
23 april 2018
Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond industry analyst and consultant, said it will be very difficult for the lab-diamond manufactures to protect price as production processes and economics improve. He told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that this will ultimately result in lab-diamonds becoming more of their own separate product class entirely distinct from natural diamonds. Zimnisky said lab-diamond companies that build a very strong brand through marketing or proprietary jewellery design will be less susceptible to price pressure, citing Swarovski as a leader in this area. He also said price differential is most apparent in generic lab-diamonds, while companies that are building a brand around their product have been more protective of prices. Zimnisky is of the opinion that price is a lab-created diamond’s greatest advantage over a natural equivalent. He said that the production capabilities of lab-created diamond manufacturers are improving as is the number of players in the space, resulting in more readily available higher-quality lab-diamonds. Zimnisky's estimate for natural diamond production in 2018 was 147 million carats of which about 60 million carats would be gem-quality, while current lab-created gem-diamond production was projected at less than 5 million carats.NB: Zimnisky has a monthly subscription-based diamond industry newsletter called, State of the Diamond Market and a proprietary rough diamond price index available at www.roughdiamondindex.com.
Demand for jewellery in China is becoming more specialized and pursuit of quality products more intense
23 april 2018
Selected as one of the first class of students to be sent to HRD Antwerp by the Chinese government to learn about diamond and diamond industry, Zhang Feng is highly qualified in the intricacies of all matters concerning diamond and the diamond industry. With more than 30 years of experience in the diamond industry now, Zhang Feng has worked in all stages, right from an ordinary worker, technician and so on, to reach the stage of a manager and later as a production director. Having honed his professional skill and talent for 30 years, Zhang Feng went on to invent the creative diamond cutting-- "81 Facets 10 Hearts & Arrows", which is patented in China, Japan, Europe, Korea, India, Israel and 100 more countries. In the year 2014, Zhang Feng established 'ALLOVE' along with the company's President Lin Chang Wei, leading to the branding of '81facets 10 Hearts & 10 arrows'. In a Q&A session with Rough & Polished, Zhang Feng takes us along his journey in the diamond industry for last 30 years, reminiscing the days gone by...
James Campbell: Scoping study results for SA’s Thorny River due mid-year
16 april 2018
Botswana Diamonds appeared to have expended most of its energy and resources last year on the new Thorny River project in South Africa as its Sunland Minerals joint venture with Alrosa, in Botswana takes long to find diamonds despite significant effort over the past four years of exploration. Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa asked company managing director James Campbell on progress made on the South African project after they reported early this year that sampling work had failed to produce enough diamonds for an economic modelled diamond valuation. He said that Botswana Diamonds was busy with a scoping study to determine the potential commerciality of the project with results expected mid-year. The Thorny River project was a consolidation of the Frischgewaagt, Hartbeesfontein and Doornrivier properties into a 2,771-hectare area in the Limpopo Province. It comprised the eastern extension of the kimberlite dyke/pipe systems on which the Klipspringer & Marsfontein Mines are located, both of which had been economically mined. Campbell also spoke about their exploration work with Alrosa in Botswana as well as the company’s interest in the Maibwe joint venture (JV).
MGCJ founder Branko Deljanin: Production of synthetic diamonds is still larger than consumption
09 april 2018
Founder and Chairman of the Mediterranean Gemmological and Jewellery Conference, MGJC, Branko Deljanin kindly agreed to answer questions from Rough&Polished related to synthetic diamonds and the upcoming 4th session MGJC in May in Budva, Montenegro.
There is some magic in a diamond
02 april 2018
Alexander Gorynya is a Director General of the St. Petersburg-based Kongo jewellery company. He is a Chairman of the Union of North-West Jewellers. In 1978, he graduated from the North-Western Extramural Polytechnic University. Since 1983, he worked at the LPO Russkiye Samotsvety (Russian Gems), and rose through the ranks from the Deputy Head of a workshop to the Director General. In 1995, he was elected the president of the AOOT Russkiye Samotsvety. In 1999, he set up and headed the jewellery company Gringor that is a supplier to the Russian Imperial House. He is an Honored Artist in Applied and Decorative Arts and awarded the medal Yuvelirnaya Rossiya (Jewellery Russia) and the Order of Honour, a Russian Federation national award, and many other awards.
Looking for the Kimberley Process achieving further and meaningful sustainable progress
26 march 2018
On March 7, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly welcomed the progress made by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to break links between the diamond trade and conflict and adopted a consensus resolution aimed at intensifying that work aligning it with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Stephane Fischler, Acting President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), the organization representing the diamond industry in the development and implementation of regulatory and voluntary systems to control the trade in diamonds embargoed by the United Nations or covered by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, gave this interview to Rough&Polished highlighting key points in the United Nations resolution.
Young people in China have become the main force of jewellery consumption
19 march 2018
Armed with a Bachelor's degree from Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, as well as majoring in Franchise Management, Wang was greatly influenced by his parents in the field of jewelry. This has resulted in his unique opinions about innovative design of jewelry products and his deep understandings of the industry’s need. After graduating from the University, Wang worked for Dongguan Branch, China Merchants Bank for nearly 2 years and gained a comprehensive understanding of the financial industry and capital operations. Currently, Wang serves as the President of Xintai Group, and in charge of overall company affairs since 2014. Here, in an Interview with Rough & Polished, Hankang Wang elucidates on his company, China's jewellery market as well as the Golden Town Project.
ZCDC re-orients diamond valuation plan as it seeks ‘right market price’
12 march 2018
At some point experts claimed that the Marange diamond fields contained between 2 and 7 billion carats of raw diamonds and that Zimbabwe was sitting on over 25 percent of the known diamond deposits in the world. Others even put the value of the Marange deposit at $800 billion. The majority of the stones mined in Marange were believed to be largely industrial while the quality gem stones were said to be not more than 20 percent. However, it is not a secret that the diamond fields failed to boost the country’s economic fortunes. Politicians claim that between $13 billion and $15 billion in diamond revenues was stolen from Marange. ZCDC, a company formed in 2016 to clean up the mess in Marange, thinks that they can make diamonds contribute meaningful revenues to the fiscus through transparent mining operations. Company chief executive Morris Mpofu told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of a mining conference in Cape Town early February that the stones from Marange were heavily under invoiced and underpriced, which prejudiced the state of much needed revenue. He said, under his guidance, ZCDC had re-oriented its valuation framework and diamond value management through cleaning to ensure that the company get the right market price for its stones. Mpofu also said the company was open to form partnerships with foreign firms.
Art historian Valentin Skurlov: "Faberge, like all court jewelers, actively used diamonds"
05 march 2018
Valentin Skurlov is a historian of jewelry art, a candidate of art history, an honorary academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, a scientific secretary and a herald master of the Faberge Memorial Foundation, and a research consultant for the Fabergé masterpieces at Christie's Russian Department. He was born and raised in Leningrad, where graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade in 1975, completing a postgraduate course in Economics and Trade Organization in 1978 and still later a postgraduate course at the Department of Art Studies of the Humanitarian University of Trade Unions. Valentin Skurlov is a member of the Russian Genealogical Society since 1992. He is an expert on the assessment of artistic valuables of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications (since 2002) and a full Chevalier of the Order of Carl Faberge.
Ari Epstein: The diamond trade is stable again
26 february 2018
Ari Epstein, CEO of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), dwelled on the results of the past year and the current situation in the diamond market in his interview to Rough&Polished.
