RAPAPORT... WD Lab Grown Diamonds is overhauling its brand and expanding its production capabilities, aiming to meet rising demand for synthetics and respond to a sharpened focus on social purpose.The company will change its name to Latitude, and will work toward sustainability certification through SCS Global Services, a third-party certifier and standards developer, WD said Tuesday.This will ena...Read More
RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and watches at LVMH dropped 24% in 2020 due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.Revenue from the categories fell to EUR 3.36 billion ($4.07 billion), as the luxury retailer - which owns Bulgari and Chaumet - was forced to close stores and manufacturing sites for several months in most of the countries in which it operates. The ban on international travel also hu...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. has unearthed a white diamond weighing 378 carats at its Karowe mine in Botswana, the second over 300 carats the deposit has produced since the start of the year.The miner recovered the "magnificent," gem-quality, unbroken, type IIa stone from the site's south lobe M/PK(S) area, known for its large, high-quality rough, it said Tuesday.Earlier this month, Lucara ret...Read More
RAPAPORT... Leaders of Israel's diamond sector expressed confidence in a recovery after strong trading in the final months of last year offered hope that the worst of the coronavirus crisis was over. Israel's final 2020 result - a 31% slump in polished exports - was better than many had feared during the height of the downturn, executives noted last week. Sales in December skyrocketed as dema...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has uncovered three synthetic moissanites with forged inscriptions that fraudsters had used to misrepresent them as natural diamonds.The cases at the Johannesburg laboratory marked the first times the GIA had discovered fake girdle inscriptions on diamond simulants, it said in a recent article in its academic journal, Gems & Gemology....Read More
(IDEX Online) - Angola's diamond production was reportedly down 40 per cent on its 2020 forecasts, from 10.5m carats to 7.5m carats.Endiama, the state-owned diamond company, says it laid off staff and revised down its forecasts but kept its mines open during the pandemic.It earned about $1.3bn in 2019 from the sale of 9.44m carats, according to Ag?? ?ncia Angola Press. Revenue was down $400m...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara has announced its second huge diamond recovery in two weeks from Karowe, in Botswana. The Canadian miner says the unbroken Type IIa 378-carat gem quality top white diamond (pictured) came from milling of ore.It follows the recovery of an unbroken 341-carat diamond from the same part of the mine, long associated with valuable finds, which was announced two weeks ago.It&#...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe moved upward this week, even as feedstock costs begin to fall, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 27.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?850-870 ($1,032-1,057) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?820-850 per tonne one week earlier.In recent weeks, the price of the feedstock mater...Read More
Prices for export billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) moved down on Wednesday January 27 with lower offers and bids heard on the market.The downtrend was supported by falling scrap costs in Turkey as well as the lack of activity in the majority of outlets.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated...Read More
Downstream aluminium producers Constellium and Novelis have formed a non-profit called Alumobility, to advance the use of automotive body sheet."This global ecosystem of the leading aluminum producers and downstream technology partners will drive value for automakers and consumers by helping to fulfill the promise of a lighter, more efficient, more sustainable mobility future," the companies said...Read More
Zinc and copper's forward prices shrunk over 2% on the afternoon of Wednesday January 27 on the London Metal Exchange, with anxiety over the Covid-19 situation around the world expanding and the dollar rising ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's remarks this evening. Zinc's three-month price fell for a fourth day in a row on Wednesday to $2,583.50 per tonne. The galvanizing metal's pr...Read More
The Rotterdam duty-unpaid aluminium premium hit a three-month high on Tuesday January 26, with a shortage of spot material offsetting market participants' concerns about a widening backwardation in London Metal Exchange spreads.Elsewhere, the cif Taiwan premium rose to an all-time high on the back of strong restocking appetite in the run-up to the Lunar New Year (February 12). Rotterdam duty-unpai...Read More
Limited metal supply and steady demand have combined to push lead premiums in the United States higher in the week to Tuesday January 26, while expectations in China of plentiful domestic supply and a closed arbitrage window have capped interest for spot and long-term business. US lead premiums at highest levels since launch in 2017. Premiums unchanged in Shanghai and Northern Europe. ...Read More
The base metals complex on the London Metal Exchange drifted lower in morning trading on Wednesday January 27, with lead and tin experiencing the biggest declines at 9am, and zinc also trending downwards following a sizable increase in LME warehouse stocks the previous day. Lead's three-month price shed 1.1% on Wednesday morning to trade at $2,054.50 per tonne, compared with its closing price on T...Read More
Neo Lithium moving closer to productionSPONSOREDneo lithiumPantoro charging towards second gold mineSPONSOREDpantoro limitedMaximus ready to resume search for more Wattle Dam richesSPONSOREDmaximus resourcesOceanaGold marks three decades of gold standard mining SPONSOREDoceanagoldFourth quarter EBITDA of $1.86 billion beat an estimate by investment bank Jefferies of $1.Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part weaker while the market waits for direction from the US Federal Reserve when the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) conclude their meeting this evening.Base metalsThree-month base metals prices on the LME were mostly down this morning; the exception was nickel ($18,100 per tonne), that was up by...Read More
Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe final 2020 drill hole, announced this week, had intercepted numerous mineralised intervals, including 86m at 3.4g/t gold-equivalent, or 2.5% copper-equivalent, from 28m.The 72m intercept, grading 3.47% copper, 0.71g/t gold and 100g/t silver, was from 397m.Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royalties"SFDH-039 is a gam...Read More
Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesThe figure was an 11% increase on 2019 and due to record-breaking production at Sentinel in Zambia and the "resilience" of other operations, particularly Cobre Panama, in dealing with the significant challenges brought about by COVID-19, the company said.Copper met the company's increased revised guidance, issued in October of 750,000-78...Read More
The domestic market for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Southern Europe moved up in the week to Wednesday January 27 on bullish offers from mills, but buying activity has slowed because of the scrap market downturn, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?650-680 ($789-826) per tonne on Wednesd...Read More
Stability in the domestic market for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Northern Europe has continued in the week to Wednesday January 27, with prices being supported by tight availability and good order books at mills, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, remained at ?,?670-700 ($814-850) per tonne o...Read More