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...

11 november 2024

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

ALROSA's MES project received top award at Wonderware Forum

27 november 2020

ALROSA received the Best MES Mining Project Award at the 2020 annual Wonderware Online Forum dedicated to global trends in industrial automation, the company said in a press release today.

Angola ships 90% of its rough diamonds to UAE

27 november 2020

Angola has been exporting 90% of its rough diamonds over the last couple of years to United Araba Emirates (UAE), according to a government official. Special advisor to the Angolan mineral resources minister Mankenda Ambroise said last week that this shows the strong trading partnership between Angola and UAE.

Namdia takes control of Namgem, engages Indians as technical partners

27 november 2020

Namibia's state-owned diamond trading company, Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) has taken control of the Namgem Diamond Manufacturing Company after it paid N$30 million ($1,85 million) to businessman Maurice Templesman.

Petra sells five blue diamonds for $40.36 mln

26 november 2020

Petra Diamonds has raked in 40.36 million from the Letlapa Tala Collection of five blue diamonds, weighing 85.6 carats in total. The rare diamonds, it said, were sold as a suite of stones to a partnership between De Beers and Diacore.

TAGS diamond tender in Dubai concludes with 100% sales

26 november 2020

Trans Atlantic Gem Sales DMCC (TAGS) recently held a rough diamond tender in Dubai from the 17th to the 23rd November 2020, presenting the regular South African, Namibian, and Angolan productions. TAGS presented almost 45,000 carats with a value of $35 to 40m to 130 leading international companies over 7 days.

COVID-19 restrictions give rise to illegal diamond, gold mining and trading – HRW

26 november 2020

There has been an increase in illegal gold and diamond mining and trading in several countries in Africa and Latin America, in part due to restrictions on the legal movement of resources and reduced government monitoring of laws and regulations, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Angola to go ahead with plans to sell stake in Endiama

25 november 2020

The Angolan government is going ahead with its plans to partially dispose of stakes in the state-owned diamond mining company Endiama and national oil company Sonangol by end of 2021 or early 2022.

Human Rights Watch: KP now ‘dysfunctional, lacks credibility’

25 november 2020

The Human Rights Watch says the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), which seeks to prevent the sale of conflict diamonds, has increasingly become “dysfunctional” and lacks credibility.

Chow Tai Fook’s revenue dips 16.5% in H1 FY 2021

25 november 2020

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd (CTF) announced its Interim results for the six months ending September 30, 2020, saying that its revenues in the first half of the fiscal year 2021 dipped by 16.5 per cent owing to ongoing virus-led challenges.

Synova develops automatic cutting and shaping solution for diamond manufacturers

25 november 2020

Synova, a Swiss-based provider of advanced laser cutting systems, has developed an automatic cutting and shaping system for diamonds which substantially decreases diamond production time by combining several manufacturing processes into one machine. It also reduces polishing processes to a final finishing step.