Helga Pombal: Angola's Stardiam finds solution to the threat posed by lab-grown diamonds

Stardiam manager of production Helga Pombal told Rough&Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Angola International Diamond Conference that lab-grown diamonds are creating a parallel market for more accessible stones, combined with lower...

11 november 2024

Ellah Muchemwa: ADPA to launch Africa's first diamond mining standard next year

The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which is based in Luanda, Angola, and represents the interests of mainly African diamond producers and those with the potential to produce diamonds, will next year launch the Sustainable Development...

04 november 2024

Dmitry Fedorov: I want our jewelry to be displayed at a museum in the future

Dmitry Fedorov is the founder of the eponymous jewelry house. His main focus is the creation of Orthodox-inspired premium luxury jewelry of high artistic merit. He told Rough&Polished about his journey in the jewelry industry, about choosing the ‘Orthodox...

28 october 2024

Responsible business practices ‘no longer optional’, says WDC President Feriel Zerouki

The president of the World Diamond Council takes time out of her busy schedule to tell Rough&Polished readers about the critical work of the WDC. Zerouki, the first female present of the body, which includes all the important industry organizations among...

14 october 2024

James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration

London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...

07 october 2024

DRC keeps silence on new mining code enaction

08 february 2018
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mines minister has refused to reveal whether President Joseph Kabila signed a new mining code opposed by the industry into law.
The new code was approved by parliament in January and would see royalties on cobalt going up five-fold to 10 percent.
“Journalists ask me whether the president has promulgated the code. I won’t answer that question here. The code is with the president,” said minister Martin Kabwelulu when he spoke to reporters and mining executives at the mining indaba in Cape Town.
Mining companies such as Randgold, Glencore and China Molybdenum said they will challenge the new law through international arbitration and are lobbying Kabila not to sign it.
Randgold’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said the DRC government should re-open negotiations with the companies.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished