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

Artur Salyakayev: For me, happiness is freedom to make my ideas happen and create valuable products

Artur Salyakayev is an art entrepreneur, founder of the International Jewelry Academy (IJA) and the INCRUA jewelry company. He has initiated and developed successful projects in jewelry industry and services sector. He is also a leading expert...

30 september 2024

Paul Zimnisky: China key for sustained recovery in demand for natural diamonds, prices

The curtailing of upstream and midstream natural diamond production in the past months is starting to have an effect on prices, according to the New-York-based independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant, Paul Zimnisky. He told Rough & Polished’s...

23 september 2024

Botswana, De Beers working on ‘finer’ details of new diamond sale deal – report

29 july 2022
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi said his government and De Beers are still negotiating on “finer” details of a long overdue new diamond-sales deal.
“We are just fine-tuning, but we will strike a deal,” Bloomberg quoted Masisi as saying in an interview in Marrakech, Morocco. 
“It is imperative that a deal gets struck because it is in the interests of both parties.”
A 10-year sales agreement ended in December 2020 and was first extended to June 2022 and recently to June 2023.
De Beers brought the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) to Botswana under the current deal, which also saw paved the way for the country to receive 15% of the total Debswana output for sale by the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company.
Debswana is a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government.
Masisi said Botswana wants adjustments in the terms of the joint venture, coupled with the additional investment in the local diamond polishing and cutting industry to create more jobs and grow the economy.
“It’s really value addition, so the resources you have been mining, we want to use our knowledge base to yield greater returns,” he said.
“That’s the conversation De Beers and ourselves are talking about.”

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished