Exclusive
Diamond market crash is Africa’s opportunity, not its crisis – M'zée Fula Ngenge
Global natural diamond supply is forecast to fall below 95 million carats this year, the lowest since 1987. For Dr. M'zée Fula Ngenge, chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC), this is not a death knell but a clarion call. In an exclusive...
12 october 2026
Tracr passes 5 million rough diamonds milestone as De Beers expands provenance push
De Beers Group's blockchain-enabled traceability platform Tracr reached a significant milestone in 2025, with more than 5 million rough diamonds individually scanned and registered, up from 2.8 million cumulative registrations reported in 2024. The...
28 september 2026
South African diamonds head to Hong Kong: SDT partners with BRINKS for JGW 2026
South Africa’s State Diamond Trader (SDT) has confirmed the country's participation in Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (JGW) 2026 through a partnership with BRINKS. SDT marketing and communication manager Tsholofelo Gopolang Tselapedi...
14 september 2026
David Benderly: PermaScribe seeks to put trust mark on diamond table, not just girdle
In this interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, PhotoScribe Technologies president and chief executive David Benderly explains how PermaScribe differs technically from conventional laser inscription, its potential to strengthen security, and...
31 august 2026
The great reset: Paul Zimnisky on supply catharsis, De Beers' bargain and the case for natural diamonds
The natural diamond industry is in the throes of its most profound reset in a generation. Supply is plunging to its lowest level since 1987 and De Beers—once valued at over $9 billion—is reportedly being sold for as little as $1 billion.
Lab-grown...
10 august 2026
Minamata Convention on Mercury focuses on reduction of anthropogenic mercury pollution
20 september 2022
In over 80 countries worldwide, Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the livelihood of millions of people, mainly in rural areas with limited alternative economic prospects. ASGM directly employs approximately 15 million miners which consist of 4-5 million women and children and produces up to 20 per cent of the world’s gold. ASGM is recognized as an opportunity to alleviate poverty and contribute to local, national, and regional development. But artisanal mining operation often results in land degradation and deforestation, and the gold miners use hazardous mercury to extract the gold from its ores. Globally, ASGM is the largest source of anthropogenic mercury pollution. In other words, ASGM contributes almost 40 per cent of all mercury that enters our atmosphere as a result of human activity.
What is environmental health?
19 september 2022
Environmental health is a branch of public health that monitors the relationship between human health and the environment, examining aspects of both our natural and human-made environment and their effect on human wellbeing. Environmental health is a broad area of study — everything from the climate to the food we eat to the air we breathe plays into environmental health.
Project Office for Arctic Development poll: more than half of residents believe that the environmental situation in the Arctic is improving
16 september 2022
52% of people who took part in the opinion poll conducted by the Project Office for Arctic Development (POAD) believe that the environmental situation in the Arctic is improving. Alexander Stotsky, General Director of the Project Office for Arctic Development announced this on September 12, 2022 presenting the results of the survey at the round table "Implementation of the municipal solid waste reform in the Far North" in the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Nornickel Smelter Closure In Russia Clears Air In Northern Norway
15 september 2022
Air pollution in the East-Finnmark district in northern Norway on the border with Russia fell last year to the lowest level in almost half a century of observations after Russian mining giant Nornickel closed its smelter in the Russian town of Nikel, Norwegian media reported, citing measurements conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Air Research (Nilu) on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency. "This is good news for the population of Sor-Varanger and nature in East-Finnmark," said Ellen Hambro, director of the Norwegian Environment Agency. After the nickel smelter was shut down two years ago, the levels of sulfur dioxide and heavy metals in the air dropped drastically in 2021 compared to previous years, data showed.
Arctic today. Waste management facilities in the Arctic will be built under concessions
14 september 2022
The Russian Environmental Operator (REO), together with the regions’ authorities, is developing concession projects for municipal solid waste (MSW) facilities in the Arctic and the Far East. By the end of 2024, waste sorting, composting and reloading stations with a total capacity of 940 000 tons should appear in seven cities of the Arkhangelsk Province, Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Two such projects will be launched in the Arctic.
Rio Tinto and Volvo Group sign MoU to create strategic partnership
13 september 2022
Rio Tinto and Volvo Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a strategic partnership under which Rio Tinto will supply responsibly sourced low-carbon products and solutions to Volvo Group. The companies will work towards decarbonising Rio Tinto’s operations through piloting Volvo Group’s sustainable autonomous hauling solutions.
Shift work impacts higher brain functions
12 september 2022
Work outside the 9-5 has well-documented health issues due to body clock disruption, and now studies show links with poorer working memory and slower mental processing speed – this has implications for health and safety, researchers say.
