Sales for the world’s largest diamond miner by volume, Alrosa, came to a near halt in April, with the company only selling $15.6-million in rough and polished diamonds in the month. This compares with sales of $152.8-million in March and $405-million in January this year.

Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has advised that its expansion plans for the Kareevlei diamond mine, in the Kimberley region of South Africa, remain on hold. The mine is, however, expected to reach full operating capacity by the end of May.

Diversified major Rio Tinto has introduced Covid-19 testing at its Diavik diamond mine, in the Northwest Territories, in Canada, as an additional precautionary measure to protect employees and community members. The miner said over the weekend that not for profit public health experts GuardRX have installed an on-site laboratory at

TSX-listed Lucara Diamond Corporation has posted a net loss of $3.2-million, or $0.01 a share, for the quarter ended March 31. This compares with a net income of $7.4-million and earnings a share of $0.02 apiece reported for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.