Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Demand for considerable-sized diamonds stronger than ever

The African Diamond Council (ADC) chairperson Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that although overall global diamond prices have been somewhat soft, the demand for considerable-sized diamonds...

02 september 2024

Amplats sees prospects as a standalone company

Anglo has revealed its plans to demerge Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which has operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe, to optimise shareholder value. Rough&Polished contacted Amplats to comment on this and other issues but was referred...

19 august 2024

WFDB President Yoram Dvash Remains Confident Despite Global Diamond Challenges

Yoram Dvash is President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) having been elected in 2020. He found time in his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about the state of the diamond industry around the world and some of the major...

12 august 2024

Lyudmila Vysotskaya: Amber is a mystical stone, a living substance

Lyudmila Vysotskaya is a Kaliningrad-based amber artist and designer, expert, chairwoman of the Amber Academy and member of the Creative Union of Artists in Decorative and Applied Arts. This summer, visitors could admire the art works by Lyudmila Vysotskaya...

30 july 2024

De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers

Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...

22 july 2024

Ivanhoe reaches record copper production at DRC mine

07 june 2023
Ivanhoe Mines achieved a monthly output record of 35 856 tonnes (t) of copper concentrate in May  at its Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
This compares to the previous month’s output of 34 826 t, bringing the quarter-to-date total to 70 682 t. 
A new daily milling record of 29 366 t of ore was also achieved from Phase 1 and 2 concentrators, which is equivalent to a yearly milling rate of 9.8 million tonnes.  
Ivanhoe said the results exceed the additional milling capacity of 9.2-million tonnes per year realised as a result of the Phase 1 and 2 concentrator debottlenecking programme, which was completed in February. 
Meanwhile, the miner said that construction activities for the Phase 3 expansion with a capacity of 500 000 t of more than 99%-pure copper anodes, were progressing as planned for first production in the fourth quarter of 2024. 
Ivanhoe completed the concrete foundations for the Phase 3 concentrator's two ball mills, as well as the foundations for the flotation cells.

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