Nosiphiwo Mzamo: South Africa’s State Diamond Trader to buy diamonds from other African countries

South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) is set to buy diamonds from other African countries starting with Botswana. SDT’s chief executive Nosiphiwo Mzamo told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa at the country’s inaugural diamond show, which...

10 february 2025

Edahn Golan: Halo effect from lab-grown diamonds driving high demand for large, 2-carat natural stones in the U.S.

Edahn Golan, owner of the eponymous Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data, told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that their research found a halo effect from lab-grown diamonds. He said the trend among lab-grown diamond...

27 january 2025

Paul Zimnisky: We will see a modest recovery in natural diamond demand and prices in 2025

According to Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant based in the New York metro area, the natural diamond industry will see a modest recovery in demand and prices this year. Zimnisky said a moderate recovery would...

13 january 2025

African Diamond Council makes traceability its top priority, wants KP to embrace Authentia.io

The African Diamond Council (ADC) has made traceability its foremost priority and has been contributing to a traceability solution called Authentia.io for the last three and a half years, which is now ready to globally satisfy the traceability...

16 december 2024

Gaetano Cavalieri: CIBJO leading the jewelry industry on critical issues

One of the gem and jewellery industry’s most well-known and respected personalities, Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, has been the president of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), for the past 23 years. CIBJO is the oldest international organisation...

09 december 2024

Lucapa returns to profitability

29 august 2023

Lucapa Diamond, which mines diamonds at its 40%-owned Lulo in Angola and its 70%-owned Mothae in Lesotho, reported a profit of $900,000 after tax in the first half of 2023, reversing a loss of $15.9 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

It attributed the profit to the rising demand for diamonds and the successful operations of both mines.

The miner reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $3.3 million for the half year from Mothae mine in Lesotho, which is an improvement from the $300,000 loss recorded in the prior-year half.

Improvements in revenue and decreases in operating expenses can be attributed to changes made to the facility in the first quarter.

It recorded an EBITDA of $6.1 million for the first half of the year at Lulo mine in Angola, down from $6.2 million in the same period last year.

Lulo, meanwhile, increased production by 18% to 15,367 carats in the first half, from 13,018 carats in the same period a year ago.

Diamonds of significant weight and worth were recovered throughout the first half of the year, including a 180-carat Type IIa white diamond in June (the third largest ever found at the mine), a 150-carat white Type IIa diamond in February, and a number of pink and yellow diamonds.

Mothae produced 15,560 carats in the first half, a decrease of 11% from the 17,493 carats produced in the first half of 2022.

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