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

Red Rock executives mull DRC visit to address $10 million claim

08 march 2024

AIM-listed Red Rock Resources’ executives are planning to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to address a $10-million claim the company made regarding its involvement in the VUP copper/cobalt joint venture.

“What should have been the simplest of matters, obtaining our share of the sales proceeds of an asset bought and paid for in 2018, has taken far too long, but I am confident that we will prevail and receive the monies owed,” said Red Rock chairperson Andrew Bell.

The company announced last January that its DRC subsidiary had received an executory judgement for $2.5 million in 2022.

This sum makes up 50.1% of the $5 million that a buyer paid to a local partner.

Additionally, the outcome of arbitration hearings in Kinshasa to secure $7.5 million, which represents 50.1% of the $15 million that the buyer has yet to pay, is still pending.

Red Rock received a draft of the arbitration award and is waiting for it to be finalised and released.

Since the conclusion of the presidential and parliamentary elections in the DRC on December 31, 2023, and Felix Tshisekedi winning a second term in office, the process and finalisation of payments were anticipated to resume.

“We have made considerable progress, but we consider that coordination of the final steps requires our presence in Kinshasa,” Bell said.

Meanwhile, the company said a group of Red Rock representatives was currently in Kenya, focusing on the renewal of two licences.

The company boasts a substantial 723,000-ounce gold mineral resource along with a tailings project in the country.

Renewing the licences will pave the way for the next phase of exploration to move forward to expand the resource to over one million ounces.

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