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

8 feared dead in Indonesia illegal gold mine tragedy

03 august 2023

Eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on the Indonesian island of Java are feared dead, as search efforts entered a fifth day with little progress. Unlicensed mines, many with disregard for basic safety measures, are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent.

The workers were digging inside a hole with a depth of 60 meters in Pancurendang village in Central Java on 25 July evening when water suddenly flooded the illegal mine. Rescuers had deployed water pumps around the clock and worked to dam a nearby river in a frantic bid to get the water out of the mining shaft but it remained flooded on Sunday.

Authorities had planned to deploy divers to find the miners but local rescue official Priyo Prayudha Utama told AFP "it was not possible" because the mine shaft was too narrow. Most of the trapped miners had moved from West Java to mine in the region.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished