Tshepo Molusi: South Africa establishes dedicated diamond retail shop in China

T3 Diamonds founder Tshepo Molusi told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa at the inaugural South Africa Diamond Show in Cape Town that the shop opened an opportunity for diamond manufacturers under the incubation to export their products to China. He...

17 february 2025

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

Caledonia sets a new quarterly record for Blanket mine production

13 october 2023

Caledonia Mining's Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe set a new quarterly record for gold production with 21,772 ounces during the quarter ending September 30, 2023.

This was a 3% rise compared to the 21,120 ounces produced in the same quarter of 2022.

It said that 55,244 ounces of gold were produced in the nine months leading up to September 30.

"We have invested heavily in Blanket over the last seven years, including investment this year to construct a new tailings storage facility, which is expected to have a life of at least 15 years based on the current production profile and will support production well into the future,” said company chief executive Mark Learmonth.

"The recent encouraging drill results at Blanket indicate that there is additional mineralisation that may, in due course, be accessed using the current infrastructure and which should further extend the life of Blanket."

In the meantime, Caledonia maintained its gold output forecast for 2023 at 75,000 to 80,000 ounces.

"Blanket continues to provide a solid foundation for the company, providing us with a platform for our other growth projects in Zimbabwe," he said.

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