RIO TINTO – INVESTMENTS – ZIMBABWE
Rio Tinto said it will not invest further in its Murowa mine in Zimbabwe until the country’s political climate improves, RAPAPORT reported.
“There are some very obvious reasons why we aren't investing there at the moment and why we won't until the situation stabilizes,” Jean-Marc Lieberherr, general manager of Rio Tinto Diamonds told Bloomberg. “We believe in the mine and we need the goods.”
Lieberherr added that the company does not have plans to divest from the country.
His response comes a week after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged companies to review their investments in Zimbabwe in response to violence which occurred in the run up to the runoff presidential election last week. Brown’s call prompted Anglo American to review its plans to continue to develop a platinum mine in the country.
Rio Tinto holds a 78 percent stake in the Murowa alluvial mine, with Zimbabwean-owned RioZim owning the remainder.
Production at the mine fell 40 percent to 113,000 carats in 2007, and Lieberherr said Rio Tinto could ramp up production to 1.8 million within two years if the company decided to invest in the mine.

JAPAN – IMPORT – DIAMONDS
Japan’s polished diamond imports continued to shrink in value in May, totaling $67.08 million, a 16.7 percent decline in dollars, and a sharp 27.6 percent decline as measured in yens. The trend of preferring cheaper goods continued, with the average per carat price declining from $432 (¥51,703) in May 2007 to just $320 (¥33,244), Idexonline reported.
The sharp decline in value is accompanied by increased imports in terms of volume. May polished diamond imports totaled 209,654 carats, a 12.6 percent year-over-year rise.
Imports from India, Japan’s main supplier of polished diamonds, rose in volume to 138,582 carats from 120,947 the year before, while declining in value to $27.86 million from $29.69 million. Imports from China rose to 9,262 carats from 2,143 carats the year before, with the value nearing half a million dollars ($495,000), falling from $1.1 million in May 2007.
In April a very similar trend was witnessed when imports continued the downward spiral in value, but rose in volume, indicating a growing interest in diamonds, albeit cheaper ones.

VAALDIAM – ACQUISITION – DUAS BARRAS MINE
Vaaldiam Resources Ltd. entered into an agreement to acquire RST Recursos Minerais Ltda. –  owner of the producing Peçanha diamond mine – and provides  a second diamond recovery plant and new mining fleet. The acquisition will double Duas Barras area production for Vaalidam, RAPAPORT reported.
Under the terms of the acquisition,  Vaaldiam will acquire RST for a cash payment of $9 million and the issuance of common shares of Vaaldiam in the amount of $1.5 million.
Ken Johnson, president and CEO of Vaaldiam, said,  “Our acquisition of RST is in line with our strategy to consolidate the Brazilian diamond sector, and significantly strengthens Vaaldiam’s position as the dominant diamond producer in South America. The RST acquisition immediately expands our Diamantina district mining operations and allows us to reach our target of 100,000 carats of annual production for the district sooner than planned.”

 Rough&Polished