World’s leading diamond producer by value, De Beers said it is anticipating a reasonable growth in diamond jewellery demand this year. Group media relations manager Lynette Gould told Rough & Polished’s African Bureau Editor In Chief Mathew Nyaungwa that China would likely drive the growth. She, however, could not be drawn into providing the company’s projections for rough diamond prices, stating that these were reviewed on a sight to sigh basis.
The Diamond Council under the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been functioning for over ten years. Its current Chairman Nyurgun Timofeev talks about the work and plans of this agency in an exclusive interview to Rough&Polished.
Zimbabwe’s Centre for Natural Resource and Governance (CNRG) said although it agrees with several issues that are contained in the country’s diamond policy, which was launched late last year, there is need to come up with measures that will enforce diamond mining companies, especially those operating in Marange to be transparent. The lobby group’s communications and advocacy coordinator Tafadzwa Kuvheya told our African Bureau Editor In Chief, Mathew Nyaungwa that diamond miners in Zimbabwe should publish contracts and agreements to ensure not only transparency but accountability.On July 5, the Market Council of Russian diamond miner ALROSA summed up the results of an experimental round of online rough diamond sales. According to the company’s press release received by Rough&Polished, the auction was held for market participants on a specialized electronic platform at direct invitations from ALROSA in accordance with the effective corporate rules for rough diamond auctions.
The first electronic auction put up for sale 108 lots of standard boxes under the current stock list of ALROSA. The diamond miner invited 30 foreign and Russian companies to take part in bidding.
The trading session resulted in approximately $11 million worth of sold goods.
The Market Council considered the experimental auction successful. From the fourth quarter of this year, after fine-tuning the software, outlining the schedule and specifying the notification and participation procedures for buyers of rough diamonds, e-auctions will be carried out on a regular basis.
In 2010, ALROSA produced 34.3 million carats of diamonds worth $2,180 million. The ALROSA Group sold a total of 3,483.6 million worth of diamond goods last year, a record amount in the company’s history.
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