South Africa-based drilling company Master Drilling, which is active in 23 countries, is aligning itself with the transitioning global requirement of opencast mines going underground. “As the world is changing, so are the mines,” said Master Drilling technology director Koos Jordaan at the JSE-listed company’s presentation of half-year results covered

Zimbabwe’s second-largest diamond miner sees demand picking up, after the coronavirus pandemic forced RioZim to halt sales in March amid slumping gem prices. With jewelry stores closed, cutters and polishers stuck at home and global travel at a standstill, the diamond industry ground to a halt over the past six months.

The Botswana government said there was no guarantee that it would be able to renew a new 10-year sales agreement with De Beers before the end of December, when the current one expires, as the coronavirus pandemic has delayed negotiations. “The ideal situation would be to end the talks by

Russian diamond miner Alrosa has sold 132 lots, weighing more than 1 700 ct during its digital auction in August. As part of the auction, clients were able to view and evaluate 2 300 ct of rough diamonds across 172 lots.

De Beers has finally decided to cut the price of its diamonds in a bid to spark sales after the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the industry. De Beers, the world’s biggest producer, told customers that it is cutting prices for larger stones by almost 10% at its sale starting this week,

London-listed Gem Diamonds has recovered a high-quality 442 ct Type II diamond from its Letšeng mine, in Lesotho. CEO Clifford Elphick says the recovery of the 442 ct diamond “is further confirmation of the calibre of the Letšeng mine and its ability to consistently produce large, high-quality diamonds”. A portion