News
Lundin achieves record quarterly gold output at its flagship Ecuador mine
Vancouver-based Lundin Gold has reported that in the third quarter of 2026, gold production at its Fruta del Norte mine in southeast Ecuador hit a new quarterly record.
Today
Richemont, Signet in talks to join De Beers consortium – report
Luxury group Richemont and US retailer Signet Jewelers are in advanced talks to join the Global Diamond Consortium (GDC) bidding for De Beers, according to five people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports.
16 october 2026
Rio Tinto begins Q4 of 2026 with strong operational performance
The Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto has reported its third-quarter 2026 results, highlighting strong operational performance.
16 october 2026
Silver market deficit to widen in 2026 - report
In the latest World Silver Survey prepared by the Silver Institute and Metals Focus, the global silver market deficit is forecast to widen for the sixth consecutive year to 46.3 million ounces.
16 october 2026
Tharisa signs PGM offtake deal with Valterra Platinum, expands chrome collaboration
South Africa’s Tharisa has entered a binding arrangement for the sale of PGM concentrate to Rustenburg Platinum Mines, a subsidiary of Valterra Platinum, effective 1 January 2027.
16 october 2026
Modi’s revolutionary fervour unlikely to wean Indians off cash
05 december 2016
(ft.com) - When Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned banknotes that make up 86 per cent of India’s cash in circulation last month, he described the drastic measure as a “movement for purifying our country” and vowed to “break the grip of corruption and black money” on the country. The abrupt prohibition of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes would punish “antisocial and antinational elements” — corrupt officials, tax evaders, counterfeiters and the like — whose hidden stash of illicit cash would become, in Mr Modi’s words, “just worthless pieces of paper”. But for all the revolutionary fervour unleashed by Mr Modi’s administration, it is not hard to imagine that cash will still be king once the current crunch eases, as the government has promised it will. The long queues at banks, and searches for functioning ATM machines, suggest the smell of money is still very much on Indians’ minds.
Rockwell in liquidation bid as audit uncovers irregular deals
02 december 2016
(miningmx.com) - Rockwell Diamonds has suspended operations at its Wouterspan plant in South Africa’s Northern Cape following a contract dispute with a mining contractor that has subsequently applied for the liquidation of Rockwell subsidiary companies. The mining contractor – C-Rock Mining (CML) – has also filed for a “spoliation order” which, if granted by the court, sees certain equipment returned to it immediately from Rockwell’s premises. Furthermore, Rockwell said that an independent forensic study of contracts involving its subsidiaries and CML had uncovered a string of irregular transactions involving one of its senior managers, whose name was not disclosed. This latest news compounds a terrible period for Rockwell which in September saw its CEO of five years standing, James Campbell, resign from the company.
What I Saw On My Wild Visit To a Beach Where the World’s Most Valuable Diamonds Wash Ashore
01 december 2016
(fortune.com) - Much has been written about “blood diamonds” and how these precious jewels fuel lawlessness and vicious feuds in parts of Africa. But, many of the world’s most valuable raw diamonds travel a much less violent pathway to market. They take a 90 million year waterborne journey, starting from a riverbank in inland South Africa and eventually wash ashore on the pristine Atlantic coastline of Namibia. There is no more tranquil, low-tech nor more valuable mining going on anywhere in the world. Diamonds are collected off the beach like seashells. Sound far-fetched? If I hadn’t been there myself, I would have said the same. I’m one of the relatively few outsiders allowed into the “Forbidden Area” in Namibia. At the time, I was a journalist living in London and for years I gently but persistently prodded De Beers in London and South Africa to let me visit. I had first learned about the Forbidden Area as a school kid, when I saw it in an atlas. I made it then my goal to visit it some day. Not easy to do, but I did finally succeed. After seven years or so of asking, De Beers finally agreed.
Happy Couples Don't Buy Diamonds Online the Way They Used To
30 november 2016
(bloomberg.com) - A diamond is no longer forever. It's until you get sick of it, list it for sale online, and buy another one. Modern expectations for engagement rings have proven more fluid than the future heirlooms sought by earlier generations. Just like virtually every other purchase, diamond rings frequently change hands online, far from a loupe-holding jeweler. It's still a shaky time for the diamond industry, but the ring market on EBay has grown 58 percent over the last five years, and digital jewelry consignment has become safer and more popular. This moment of transition makes it particularly interesting to note what happened on November 7, 2016 to the longtime pioneer in online diamond sales. Blue Nile Inc., which began selling diamonds online in 1999 and went public in 2004, canceled its third-quarter earnings call to announce instead an agreement to be acquired by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC. The all-cash deal values the diamond seller at about $500 million, about 34 percent over Blue Nile's Friday afternoon closing price.
Prices are Sinking, No Matter How You Measure Them
29 november 2016
(ehudlaniado.com) - The Mercury Diamond Global Tracker™ (MDGT™) index declined 0.1% to 117.9 during the month of October 2016. You may call it a minor softening in prices, but what it really says is that the selling prices of diamonds have once again declined: some more, some less. MDGT™ tracks diamond prices all across the value chain, from rough to retail, and the index tracks prices of diamonds weighing 1-30 carats. On other indexes, asking prices are showing an even greater decline, down about 2% (IDEX -1.2%, and RAPI 1ct 2.6%) month-over-month. The way we view it, while overall transaction prices declined marginally during October, wholesalers are already reducing prices further. We therefore expect to see those reductions reflected in transaction prices in the market over the coming weeks.
