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Category: Diamonds

Zimbabwe reinstates ban on alluvial and riverbed mining

Alluvial mining extracts minerals from riverbeds and floodplains, while riverbed mining targets river channels. Both can harm the environment and pollute water. On Tuesday, the Zimbabwean government reimplemented its ban on alluvial and riverbed mining to combat environmental damage, media reported. Although the ban was initially declared in 2020, the practice has persisted in recent…
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August 21, 2024
Botswana aims to negotiate bigger stake in HB Antwerp diamond dealer

Botswana intends to renegotiate its proposed purchase of a stake in Belgian gem dealer HB Antwerp to double the size of its shareholding at no extra cost following the downturn in the diamond market, the country’s mines minister said on Tuesday. Botswana is the world’s biggest diamond producer by value, meaning its economy has been…
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August 14, 2024
“Where to invest in Africa”: Top 5 African countries most attractive for investment

The report, “Where to Invest in Africa,” compiled and published by South Africa’s second-largest bank, First National Bank (FNB). The ranking is based on the consideration of 20 indicators divided into four groups. These are current economic performance and potential, market accessibility and level of innovation, economic stability and investment climate, social conditions and human…
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August 9, 2024
Eight African countries make top 10 diamond-producing countries globally

Eight African nations secured positions within the top ten diamond-producing countries worldwide in 2023, highlighting Africa’s significant contribution to the global diamond industry. Africa is renowned for its wealth in valuable minerals essential for economic development, such as gold, copper, and platinum. The continent holds about 30% of the world’s total mineral reserves, impacting various…
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July 26, 2024
BRICS offers hope for Africa’s resource potential: Ethiopian economist

Dr. Costantinos Berhe Tesfu, former UN Senior Policy Advisor and Chairman of the AU Advisory Board on Corruption, sees the BRICS grouping as potentially helpful for Africa’s mineral resource development, which can enhance regional stability and reduce conflict on the continent. “The regulation of this mineral exploitation and trade definitely will enhance also the possibility…
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July 18, 2024
IMF slashes Botswana’s 2024 growth forecast amid diamond market woes

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed Botswana’s 2024 growth forecast to 1% from an earlier April estimate of 3.6% due mainly to lower diamond production, it said in a statement. The budget deficit is also expected to widen to 6% from 3.45% due to a fall in mineral revenues, the IMF said, urging the…
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July 13, 2024
De Beers ditches lab-grown diamonds as it looks beyond Anglo

De Beers will ditch a controversial experiment to sell lab grown diamond jewelry, ending a six-year program that broke one of its oldest taboos. While the company long held the technology to make synthetic gems, it always refused to sell them as jewelry, fearing they would undercut the allure of natural stones. Yet as man-made…
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June 30, 2024
Botswana GDP shrinks most since 2020 as diamond output plunges

Botswana’s economy contracted by the most since the peak of the pandemic in early 2020, after diamond production plunged. Gross domestic product shrank an annual 5.3% in the first quarter, compared with growth of 1.9% in the prior three months. The downturn was primarily influenced by a decrease in real value added of the diamond…
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June 30, 2024
Lucapa finds Angola mine’s second-largest diamond

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX: LOM) has unearthed a 235-carat type IIa diamond from its prolific Lulo mine, the second-largest recovered at the Angola operation since it opened in 2015. The find comes barely a week after the recovery of a 208-carat diamond at the same mine, which is the third-largest ever recovered from Lulo. The new diamond was dug up from Mining Block…
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May 30, 2024