Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More

The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More

* OPEC, Russia moving closer to agreeing oil cuts for 2019* Russia's Lukoil says ready to cut oil output if necessary* Saudi crude output hits record 11.3 mln bpd in November (Adds settlement prices, commentary)By Stephanie KellyNEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Wednesday ahead of a meeting of the world's biggest exporters, who will discuss cutting output to help shore up prices and...Read More

* Repo rate held at 6.50 percent* RBI retains "calibrated tightening" stance* Cutting minimum bond holding ratio to spur bank lending* Bond yields fall as RBI lowers inflation projection (Adds further comments from government statement)By Swati Bhat and Suvashree ChoudhuryMUMBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - India's central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, in a decision that was wid...Read More

MUMBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India would be ready to take policy action if upside risks to inflation do not materialise, Governor Urjit Patel said on Wednesday after the central bank announced it was holding interest rates steady for now. the assessment that growth will likely remain healthy for the rest of the year, the MPC (monetary policy committee) retained its stance at calib...Read More

Based on a 2012 exploration program that identified high-grade cobalt and vanadium at the Duddridge Lake project in Saskatchewan, Searchlight Resources (TSX-V: SRCH) decided to acquire the property located some 75 kilometers northwest of the town of La Ronge."With the increasing interest in battery technology utilizing both vanadium and cobalt, the Duddridge project represents an excellent project...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers has repaired a configuration bug on theorder pages of subsidiaries Kay and Jared that accidentally exposed the personalinformation of customers who purchased online. A Jared customer contacted Signet last month after noting hecould see other buyers' order information by slightly modifying the link in hisown confirmation email. The accessible data included names, billing...Read More

RAPAPORT... E-commerce giant eBay will expand its luxury-goods authenticationservice to more than 45,000 jewelry products on its platform, it said. Third-party authentication experts will verify the items,which it sources from some of the site's highest-rated vendors, the retail company saidMonday. The service, eBay Authenticate, will cover items including engagementrings, wedding bands, and loose...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond advertising has well and truly departed fromtraditional styles, this year's holiday commercials suggest. Gone are the daysof the De Beers campaigns targeting men buying a diamond for his fianc?(C)e.The major retailers have taken a much more experimentalapproach, with Tiffany & Co. creating an eccentric video that featuresactress Zo?<< Kravitz, while Signet Jewelers' br...Read More

Indian ferro-chrome producers will continue to target the European market in 2019 and beyond despite a recent softening in prices, according to an Indian exporter who is establishing trading connections to European destinations. "We are looking into setting up [delivered duty-paid ferro-chrome] delivery into Europe and how to make that profitable," said the source, who anticipated starting exports...Read More

Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has begun commercial production at its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho, which it acquired in early 2017.The operation will add to the Perth-based company annual output, until now on depending on just one mine - Lulo, in Angola.The commercial recoveries are being processed through a 1.1 million tonne-per-year plant, which is a key milestone in Lucapa's develo...Read More

Zimbabwe's government is letting two new private companies mine diamonds in the country and may even allow foreign investors to hold majority stakes in local operations on condition that part of their output is reserved for domestic downstream industries.Mines minister Winston Chitando said any company or person with title for diamonds would have to go into partnership with the four companies allo...Read More

RAPAPORT... A blue diamond estimated at up to $30 million failed to finda buyer at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday. The pear-shaped, 10.62-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, VVS1-claritydiamond had a presale valuation of $20 million to $30 million. Anotherpear-shaped stone - a 2.76-carat, fancy-intense-purple-pink diamond - also remainedunsold at the auction. It was estimated at $1.3 million to $1.6 m...Read More

The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat week on week on Wednesday December 5, with consumers unlikely to make further purchases before the new year.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at $540-560 ($614-637) per tonne delivered on Wednesday. Offers were expected to remain above the range for the rest of December and i...Read More

LSE-listed Petra Diamonds on Wednesday announced the completion of the sale of its and its black economic empowerment partner’s 75.9% interest in the Kimberley Ekapa Mining joint venture (KEM JV) for R300-million to JV partner Ekapa Mining.The KEM JV incorporates the Kimberley underground mine, extensive tailings retreatment programmes and the high-volume central treatment plant, which are a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) organized a two-day India Jewellery Buyer-Seller Meet on December 4 and 5 in Kolkata for leading jewelers from participating countries such as Bangladesh, Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, UK and USA.   The GJEPC said the initiative aimed to offer a gateway to a huge potential market and boost investment and trad...Read More

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Commercial diamond mining has started at the Mothae mine, in Lesotho, ASX-listed Lucapa Diamonds reported on Wednesday.“Lucapa is on track to become one of a few listed diamond companies globally with production from more than one operating mine,” said Lucapa MD Stephen Wetherall.AdvertisementRamp-up to the 1.1-million-tonne-a-year nameplate capacity at...Read More

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday December 6.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Wednesday December 5, with most of the three-month prices trading in narrow ranges while impervious to broad strength in the US dollar. Read more here in our live futures report.Here is how prices looked at the close of trading:Bra...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The top performing lot during Bonhams December Fine Jewelry sale was a diamond ring which sold for $828,500 compared with its pre-sale estimate of $400,000-$600,000.   Coming from a private collection, it was the first time the 18.04-carat emerald-cut diamond had come to auction.   The second top performing lot was a diamond solitaire ring by Royal De Versailles. The ro...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A federal judge in New York has ordered that Signet Jewelers Ltd. face a securities-fraud lawsuit filed by shareholders alleging the company misled them about the performance of its credit portfolio and allegations of sexual discrimination.   The lawsuit was filed by Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi with which District Judge Colleen McMahon agreed.   The...Read More

Brazilian miner Vale will invest an additional $500 million in its Vale New Caledonia (VNC) nickel operations in the South Pacific due to expectations of increased demand from rising electric vehicle (EV) output, chief executive officer Fabio Schvartsman said on Tuesday December 4."We will need all of the capacity of VNC to meet this demand," Schvartsman said.In two years, nickel output from VNC w...Read More

HARARE – Zimbabwe will now allow two more private companies to explore and mine diamonds in the country, bringing to four the number of firms that will operate in the sector, mines minister Winston Chitando has said.Last week Chitando said the country did not plan to change its ownership rules for diamonds and platinum, denting hopes among some miners the country will open up ownership as it...Read More