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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...
Yesterday
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
BlueRock narrows H1 losses as grades improve at Kareevlei
The mine’s average grade for the period was 3.17 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) compared to 2.26 cpht in 2017, while production increased 81 percent year-on-year to 73,028 tonnes from 40,343 tonnes, the previous year.
It said its average value per carat was $340 during the period under consideration compared to $362 in the first half of 2017.
BlueRock chairperson Paul Beck said the improved production volumes were achieved despite a seasonal downturn during the period coupled with a previous fault with a crusher that had temporarily stopped production in June.
“Post-period end, all issues with the crushing circuit have now been resolved and we are operating at approximately 50 percent increase in throughput with average tonnes processed per day approaching 1,500 tonnes,” he said.
Beck also said that the development work BlueRock was conducting at KV2 would provide them with “good quality” high grade kimberlite in 2019 as they “look forward to the results from [the] new pipe at KV1 with enthusiasm”.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Rough&Polished