News
European Commission names Eldorado’s copper-gold mine in Greece strategic
The European Commission (EC) has designated the Skouries copper-gold mine in northern Greece, operated by Eldorado Gold Corporation, as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
Today
Copper 360 intersects new copper sulphide mineralisation at Rietberg
Copper 360 has intersected copper sulphide mineralisation at its South African Rietberg underground mine about 16 metres before reaching the planned 300 Level (300L) elevation, earlier than expected from the company's geological model.
Today
Namdeb seeks State recapitalisation as diamond prices erode revenue
Namdeb Holdings, comprising Namdeb and Debmarine Namibia, has approached the Namibian government for financial assistance as falling global diamond prices cut into revenue, The Namibian reports.
Yesterday
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.
Yesterday
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.
Yesterday
UAE seeks best valuation practices for diamonds under Kimberley Process
29 march 2016
(thenational.ae) - A UAE-sponsored initiative aimed at introducing best valuation practices for the rough diamond trade is due to be launched later this year under the country’s chairmanship of the Kimberley Process, an industry certification programme intended to halt the trade in conflict diamonds. It comes as a response to criticism of transfer mispricing practices within the diamond trade, which NGOs claim has deprived diamond producer states of crucial tax revenue.
Diamonds suffer from oversupply, price falls in new era
28 march 2016
(www.ft.com) - Only eight years ago, De Beers celebrated the opening of Snap Lake — a landmark project for the diamond producer. The diamond mine in Canada’s remote North West Territories was De Beers’ first outside its African heartland and the first completely underground diamond mine in the country. By the end of 2014, $2.2bn had been spent on development and operations. Yet today, not a single diamond is being produced at Snap Lake, which has been closed with the loss of more than 400 jobs as De Beers responds to one of the worst market downturns in diamonds for years. The temporary closure of the mine summed up the problems facing the diamond industry during 2015, when a downturn gathered pace and led to financial pain for miners, dealers and retailers.
FinTech Eyeing Antwerp Diamond Trade
25 march 2016
(thediamondloupe) - Two financial technology players are trying to entice the 1,700 Antwerp diamond companies to leave traditional banks behind and partner with them for making international payments, according to the Belgian newspaper De Tijd. Some 200 diamantaires – Indian and Jewish traders alike – recently sat down together in the Antwerp Diamond Club for a seminar to introduce Uphold and FX4BIZ, two ‘fintech’ companies that would like to conduct the diamantaires’ international payments.
Is the Diamond Industry Finally Going Back to Basics?
24 march 2016
(ehudlaniado.com) - Last week, ALROSA held its third sales period of the year. The supply is currently estimated at $300-$350 million, about half of what De Beers supplied in February. The demand for De Beers’ rough diamonds was strong during and after Sight. Are we continuing to see such strong demand? Does this indicate that the market is getting back on its feet?
Why the industry has mixed feelings about eco-friendly messaging
23 march 2016
(jckonline.com) - Suzanne Miglucci, the new president and CEO of moissanite manufacturer Charles & Colvard, seemed an energetic, forceful presence on her first conference call. Discussing her company’s new strategy, she talked up the growing importance of millennials in the market and how they favor responsibly sourced products. Which makes them, she concluded, the perfect market for “ethically sourced” ForeverOne brand. To drive her point home, she took several shots at gem mining. From what I hear, ForeverOne is an indeed an impressive product. But there are two problems with this message. First, the substantive: From the comments on the conference call, Miglucci is calling moissanite ethical only in comparison to natural diamonds. Yet, even if you grant that producing moissanite in a factory does less environmental harm than extracting a diamond from a ground—and, while this makes a certain intuitive sense, I haven’t seen any hard data on this—that doesn’t mean you can call moissanite an ethical product, any more than you can call a lower-fat doughnut health food. I have not seen any proof that moissanite should be considered more ethical than any other factory-produced product. But there is also business problem here: This strategy is inherently negative.
