RAPAPORT... Beryl Raff will leave her role as chairman and CEO of Helzberg Diamonds after 13 years with the company.Raff, who is set to retire on July 1, will continue to advise and consult the executive team at the Berkshire Hathaway-owned jeweler as a nonexecutive chairman, the jeweler said Tuesday. She is the longest-serving nonfamily CEO at Helzberg."Helzberg Diamonds is my family," said Raff....Read More

RAPAPORT... US jewelry sales rose in May amid a return to in-person shopping and a surge in weddings and travel, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.Revenue for the category jumped 22% year on year during the month, the highest growth of all segments Mastercard monitors, it reported Wednesday. The majority of weddings and social events were pushed back during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many consumer...Read More

RAPAPORT... Richemont and Kering have rejoined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) after withdrawing their brands over the Russia controversy, according to the standards organization's chairman."There were 24 companies within those groups that resigned," David Bouffard said at the Rapaport Social Responsibility Conference, which took place Sunday during the JCK Las Vegas show. "Within a m...Read More

Construction work at Skouries started in 2013 but the project has been embroiled in a series of legal disputes with Greek authorities over permitting for the scheme.Read More

RAPAPORT... Sentiment was high as the 2022 JCK Las Vegas show came to an end, with exhibitors reporting solid orders amid an overall upbeat US retail market.Robust consumer spending and shortages of goods supported trading, despite concerns about inflation, interest rates and a stock-market decline. Foot traffic was strong following two years of limited gatherings."We expected the show to be...Read More

Kinross has already received US$300 million in US-denominated cash into its corporate account outside of Russia and will receive the remaining payment of US$40 million on the first anniversary of dealRead More

RAPAPORT... The Las Vegas shows set the tone for the industry moving into the second half of the year. But how was the mood considering the economic and geopolitical headwinds facing the trade, and what does this signal for the market? In this episode of the Rapaport Diamond Podcast, News Editor Joshua Freedman and Senior Analyst Avi Krawitz discuss sentiment at the shows, along with the big news...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond miners in Lesotho are urging the government to reconsider new rules that would halt refunds on VAT paid on the goods, services and capital items for day-to-day operations.They say the proposed VAT Amendment Bill would harm the industry, which produced 1.1m carats in 2019.Australian-owned Lucapa, which operates Mothae, the world's highest US$ per carat kimberlite diamon...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A luxury jeweler in Ukraine that started making body armor after the Russian invasion is now sending wedding rings to frontline soldiers.Oberig's manufacturing base in Kharkiv - Ukraine's heavily-shelled second city - has so far contributed more than 6,000 items of body armor to the war effort.And now it's sending silver wedding rings - 148 and counting - to soldiers...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lusix, the solar-powered lab grown company, has announced $90m in an investment round for its Sun Grown Diamonds.LVMH Luxury Ventures is among those funding the Israel-based company, founded by Benny Landa, the "father of commercial digital printing" who sold his company Indigo to HP for $830m.Half the $90m was revealed in February, when the company said it had secured funding from...Read More

CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu minesGudai-Darri, approved in late 2018, represents Rio's first greenfields Pilbara iron ore development in over a decad...Read More

CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu mines"Canada is home to almost half of listed companies in the mining and minerals space, with a combined market cap of...Read More

CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Taking Construction to the Next LevelSPONSOREDconexpo-con/agg 2023Advancing Copper and Gold Projects in an Under-Explored Porphyry DistrictSPONSOREDresilience miningServicing China's Steel SectorSPONSOREDaspire miningChinese Strategic AllianceSPONSOREDxanadu minesSome 67% of regional silver production and 56% of our copper production was exposed to water scarcity.Read More

Antofagasta announced a leak in the Los Pelambres concentrate pipeline on June 7. Antofagasta reports that restrictions to access the leak have been partially eased, allowing repairs to begin.Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 29 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for the June Empire State Manufacturing Survey was unchanged versus a drop of 11.60 in May. Actual was a drop of 1.2. Consensus for May Retail Sales was an increase of 0.1% versus a gain of...Read More

Despite strong commodity prices, money has not been flowing into the mining sector - and that is likely to be the case as long as market volatility and uncertainty continue, according to a panel of mining-focused investment bankers at this week's Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention. The June 13 conversation, moderated by Northern Miner Group president Anthony Vaccar...Read More

From a lack of skilled professionals to rising costs due to inflation amidst the pressure to quickly build an entirely new industry, Canada must overcome several obstacles before it can build the battery ecosystem it often promotes, industry experts said at a session at this week's PDAC conference in Toronto.While the country has over the last year taken steps to support miners hunting for battery...Read More

Kinross Gold (TSX: G; NYSE: KGC) said on Wednesday it had sold its Kupol mine and Udinsk project in Russia to Highland Gold Mining for a total of $340 million in cash, half of the price announced in April.The Canadian miner suspended operations in Russia in early March to both comply with Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and avoid reputational damage by staying in th...Read More

Critical Elements (TSXV: CRE; OTC: CRECF) has delivered a new feasibility study on its wholly owned Rose lithium-tantalum project situated in the Eeyou-Istchee, James Bay region of Quebec, confirming the potential for a low-risk, reliable producer of high-quality lithium.The study envisions a 17-year operation that will excavate a total of 26.3 million tonnes of ore grading 0.87% Li2O (lithium o...Read More

For investors and companies involved in the extraction industries, it has been impossible to ignore the meteoric rise of battery materials in recent years. Over the course of 2021, cobalt prices more than doubled, rising by 119%, lithium prices surged almost 400% and copper prices also reached all-time highs.A significant driver of these price movements is the energy transition, which represents t...Read More