News
Nornickel and Reksoft Implement "smart vision" to protect production
Nornickel has deployed a neural network-based video analytics system across its facilities, designed to prevent equipment breakdowns and production stoppages, the company’s press service reported.
Today
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
The Great Diamond Slowdown of 2016, and Why We Need a Fresh Approach
19 august 2016
(ehudlaniado.com) - We are in the middle of the summer, and trade has shifted gears to a slower pace. In August, many go on vacation, and the coming month is expected to be even slower than July. The reasons for this slowdown are clear: a decline in consumer demand for diamond jewelry in the US, a yearlong drop in consumer demand in China that did not improve during the February holiday period, and which remains low. In Japan, demand has been declining for more than a year, and in India, the expected rise in demand is not materializing. Logic suggests that the weak demand for diamond jewelry translates into weak demand for polished, which in turn should result in a decline in rough diamond demand. Has that happened? De Beers reported its half year results, stating that sales volume increased more than 29% to 17.2 million carats, and revenue from rough diamond sales increased 11% to $3.1 billion. This means that the market purchased more rough diamonds during a period when demand from the consumer market has actually been in significant decline. The result of this behavior is that there is an oversupply of polished diamonds and this pushes their prices down. It’s a vicious cycle that hurts margins, profitability and viability.
How Amazon Generated Real Business With a Fake Holiday
18 august 2016
(jckonline.com) - Amazon must have been watching in 2014, when Alibaba set an all-time world record for e-commerce on Nov. 11, China’s Singles’ Day. It didn’t take the Seattle-based e-tailer long to concoct its own 24-hour sales-travaganza: Prime Day, July 12, in which 100,000 items were on sale. While Alibaba was piggy-backing on an existing tradition that celebrated the country’s singles, Amazon created Prime Day to celebrate itself. No matter; it’s worked.
Jewelry Leadership Forum / Jewelers Education Foundation
17 august 2016
In 2013, the association members of the Jewelry Leadership Forum (the “JLF”) agreed to work toward the development of a website that would serve as a “portal” for all educational programs offered by various member jewelry organizations. The goal was to provide industry members with a “course catalogue” to guide professionals to the right educational sources and courses offerings. The intention was that the website would contain descriptions of course offerings of the participating industry organizations, along with links to each association’s website to obtain further information or to participate in a course or program. As the idea for an educational “portal” was being formulated, the members of the JLF decided that the Jewelers Education Foundation (the “JEF”) was the best platform to host this website, with development provided by one of the JLF members. As a result of the collaboration of the JLF association members, the JEF launched to the Jewelers Education Portal on June 21, 2016. The portal is located at www.jewelerseducationfoundation.org and exists as a resource for the many educational programs offered by jewelry, diamond, colored stones, precious metals and watch associations, as well as services offered from member associations on legal standards, credit reporting, appraisals and crime prevention. The site includes links directly to the participating organizations.
Silly Season
16 august 2016
(polishedprices.com) - August is upon us and traditionally August is the ‘silly season’ for the media, a time when the Loch Ness monster story stands a good chance of being resurrected, yet again, to fill the gap of no news as everyone lolls about on some beach or whatever. In our industry we have had our own excursion into this silly fantasy world, but a few weeks early. Recently it was announced in Gaborone that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was going to fulfill a pledge made in 2008 to help foster a local cutting industry in Botswana. The tidy sum of $250 million has been set aside as the US Government takes 75% of the risk on loans for diamond purchases for local cutting.
Why Is the US Government Getting Involved in Diamond Financing?
15 august 2016
(jckonline.com) - With banks leaving the industry, last week journalist Chaim Even-Zohar broke the news that a rather odd party—the U.S. government—had agreed to finance Botswana diamond factories. The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), a financial institution that is part of the U.S. government, is now guarantying $125 million in loans to Botswana’s cutters and polishers. OPIC is assuming 75 percent of the risk associated with the first tranche; the other 25 percent will be held by Barclay’s Bank of Botswana. OPIC has also committed to guarantying another $125 million in loans and hopes to get other local banks involved. If all goes to plan, $333 million will be available for cutters and polishers in Botswana over the agreement’s 13-year horizon.
