RAPAPORT. De Beers has reduced its production plan for the next two years, aiming to avoid releasing too much rough into the market as the diamond sector attempts to exit the crisis that dominated 2020.
The miner expects to unearth 33 million to 35 million carats in 2021, down from its previous forecast of 34 million to 36 million carats, parent company Anglo American said Friday in a presentation to investors. Output in 2022 will range from 30 million to 33 million carats compared with earlier guidance of 33 million to 35 million carats and will remain at the same level in 2023.
De Beers will produce around 26 million carats this year, after the pandemic prompted management to rethink the previous outlook of 32 million to 34 million carats.
RAPAPORT. Lucapa Diamond Company has unearthed a 101-carat rough from its Mothae mine in Lesotho.
The company found the D-color, type IIa diamond in the mine’s southern lobe region, it said last week. It’s the fourth 100-carat-plus rough the miner has recovered from the site since it commenced operations in January 2019. Last week, Lucapa unearthed a 127-carat, high-quality diamond from its Lulo mine in Angola.
Lucapa is planning an expansion of Mothae, which it expects to complete in the first quarter of 2021. That will likely increase output at the mine by 60%, the company noted.
“The recovery of this exceptional 101-carat diamond brings a positive end to 2020 for Mothae and its hardworking teams,” Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said. “[We] look forward to completing the capacity expansion already underway at Mothae and to producing many more exceptional diamonds from this resource.”
Rapaport News.
Prices climbed by 1% to 2% for 0.75-carat rough goods and larger, as well as for -7 sieve sizes, sources said following the December sale. The miner also adjusted assortments, making some boxes seem more expensive than in previous sales, but prices were still higher on a like-for-like basis, they explained.
“They increased prices in the areas where the underlying polished was moving,” a source said Sunday. “Assortments also improved, but we don’t think that assortments improved to the degree that the prices increased.”
The market for relatively large polished has picked up in the fourth quarter, with the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat stones gaining 1.6% since October 1, and RAPI for 3-carat stones jumping 4.8%. That contrasts with a weaker market for 0.30-carat polished.
RAPAPORT. The New York diamond district will take center stage in the first episode of a new CNBC miniseries that spotlights America’s business cultures.
Street of Dreams with Marcus Lemonis is a five-episode series that highlights the stories of the entrepreneurs and unique industries that define America’s most iconic streets, NBC Universal, owner of CNBC, said last week. In the first episode, Lemonis will go behind the jewelry counters of diamond businesses on 47th Street, with Martin Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group, among the interviewees.
“With unprecedented access to elite diamond dealers, master craftsmen and industry disruptors, [Lemonis] explores the inner workings of this $24 billion block, and tries to discover what it takes to get a good deal on a diamond,” the network noted. “[The series] features unprecedented access to the men and women who ply their trades on these streets…the small-business owners, innovators, old-school craftspeople, hustlers
RAPAPORT. Bonhams sold a Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch for $1.1 million at its New York Jewels auction, bringing in more than double its low valuation and surpassing its high estimate.
The cushion-shaped mixed-cut, 17.21-carat sapphire, flanked by marquise- and pear-shaped table-cut diamonds, was created in 1910. It led the December 7 sale, which achieved a total of $3.8 million, Bonhams said Tuesday.
A ring featuring an oval-shaped mixed-cut, 39.36-carat sapphire, surrounded by round brilliant-cut diamonds, went for $250,313, just over its high valuation. Meanwhile, an old pear-shaped brilliant-cut, 5.80-carat diamond ring fetched $169,063, well exceeding its $100,000 high estimate. A pair of earrings containing round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 10.28 and 10.34 carats also garnered $169,063, smashing its high estimate.