Slight drop in sales of rough diamonds

DE BEERS, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, yesterday reported that the value of rough diamond for first sales cycle of 2018 had amounted to $665 million (R7.93 billion).

Sales were down compared with the $729m recorded in the first cycle of 2017 and were $455m in the tenth sales cycle of 2017, said the subsidiary of diversified mining giant Anglo American.

De Beers chief executive Bruce Cleaver attributed the sales to seasonal restocking.

“Following positive early signs for diamond jewellery sales over the holiday season in the US, the need for the industry to restock led to increasing demand for our rough diamonds in the first cycle of 2018. This seasonal restocking demand does usually see a larger share of annual purchases being planned into the first cycle of the year by our customers, resulting in an encouraging sales performance.

“In the equivalent sales cycle last year, sales levels benefited from purchases that had been deferred from late in 2016 as a result of the initial impact at the time of India’s demonetisation programme.”

The sales come amid reports that the Department of Mineral Resources had approved 16 prospecting licence applications submitted by De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM).

The licences were all in the Kimberley area, where DBCM began mining diamonds 130 years ago.

Last November, De Beers said it had placed its Voorspoed mine in the Free State on the market and was seeking expressions of interests from interested parties.

The company said the sale was aimed at providing opportunities for lower-cost operators to employ a different operating model that would possibly extend the life of the mine beyond 2020. This was in a bid to contribute to the community through job creation.

Big find

Meanwhile, Gem Diamonds recovered one of the world’s biggest diamonds in history in Lesotho early this month.

Gem Diamonds found the 910 carat stone at its Letseng mine. It was a D colour Type IIa diamond, which means it has little or no nitrogen atoms and is one of the most expensive stones. The diamond is the fifth-biggest stone ever found.

Lucapa Diamond Company announced the recovery of more large diamonds from the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola earlier this month. Lucapa’s latest recoveries include diamonds weighing 103 carats and 83 carats.

The 103 carat diamond is the 9th +100 carat diamond recovered to date from Lulo. The largest was the Angolan record 404 carat 4th February Stone, which sold for $16m in 2016.