Christie's HK Magnificent Jewels Sale Achieves $92M

Christie's Hong Kong sale of magnificent jewels achieved $91.9 million and was  81 percent sold by lot.  Nonetheless, the sale fell short of its presale estimate of $100 million. One of the top lots, a rare Golconda diamond necklace named the "Eye of Golconda," remained unsold during the evening.

Bidders still offered top prices for colorless and colored diamonds as well as colored gemstones, jadeite and natural pearls. The auction house set a world record for an intense green diamond when a 6.13-carat, VS2, fancy intense green cushion-shaped diamond ring achieved $3.6 million or $594,510 per carat.

The top lot of the sale (pictured) was a pair of 25.49 and 25.31 carat, D, type IIa diamond ear pendants, which sold for $9.7 million or $191,746 per carat to an Asian private buyer.

The second top lot was a 9.38-carat, pear-shaped, fancy intense pink diamond ring which achieved $5.96 million or $636,117 per carat.

A jadeite bangle achieved $5.2 million, while a 26.20-carat, D, flawless, type IIa, brilliant-cut diamond fetched $4.95 million or $189,828 per carat.

Other colorless diamonds that sold included a 26.20-carat, D, flawless, brilliant-cut diamond for $4.9 million or $188,958 per carat and a 23.76-carat, D, flawless, brilliant-cut diamond that fetched $4.7 million or $199,200 per carat.

Top colored gemstone lots included a suite of Burmese "pigeon's blood" ruby and diamond jewelry weighting a total of 65.07 carats by James W. Currens for Faidee garnered $4.8 million, while a 28.88 carat cushion-shaped Colombian emerald sold for $4.2 million or $143,780 per carat.

A 12.93 carat, VS2, rectangular, fancy orangy-pink diamond by Harry Winston achieved $3.6 million or $281,852 per carat.

Source: Diamonds.net

Botswana Diamonds Awarded New Licenses in Orapa

Botswana Diamonds has received five new prospecting licenses in the Orapa region of Botswana, the company reported. The licenses cover a total area of 1,357 square kilometers and will be explored as part of the ongoing joint venture between the company and ALROSA.

ALROSA identified the area as a high priority, but the company did not previously have rights to explore some of the targets identified.

"We now have some of the top targets on our licenses. In particular ground to the north and west of the main Orapa area which has problems with swampy conditions and deep sand. Little exploration has been done on these areas with no known kimberlites to date. ALROSA believes the ground has kimberlites and that their technology and expertise will find them," said John Teeling, the chairman of Botswana Diamonds.

Teeling noted that the company has a joint budget of $1 million for the year to fund exploration.

Fieldwork on the new ground will be carried out at the same time as work at the company's PL 117 license, where a drill program with two targets is set to be implemented.

Rockwell's FY Revenue +39%, Loss Narrows to $10M

Rockwell Diamonds reported that revenue rose 39 percent year on year to $41.6 million (CAD 45.2 million) in the fiscal year that ended on February 28. The average per carat value of rough diamonds sold rose 13 percent to $1,484 while the volume of carats sold rose 27 percent to 26,272 carats. Rockwell narrowed its fiscal loss to $9.6 million (CAD 10.4 million) compared to a loss of $12.7 million (CAD 13.8 million) one year ago. Diamond production during 2013 grew 27 percent to 27,776 carats. Rockwell carried over inventory of 2,752 carats, which included 1,181 carats of royalty mining contracts. The company's beneficiation joint venture with Diacore also held over 6,000 carats, which will provide additional future revenue potential. Rockwell held a cash balance of $1.2 million (CAD 1.3 million) at the close of the year after capital investments of $8 million (CAD 8.7 million) in new processing capacity. Gross diamond sales jumped 52 percent to $37.8 million (CAD 41.1 million), while beneficiation income reached $3.8 million (CAD 4.1 million). Rockwell's CEO, James Campbell, noted that the company's fiscal performance reflected its operational turnaround and its core focus on the Middle Orange River  region of South Africa. During 2013, the company delivered two new mines, namely the Saxendrift Hill Complex and Niewejaarskraal. Both mines were funded internally from cash reserves which more than doubled the company's Middle Orange River production capacity to 340,000 cubic meters per month. "Having met our short-term target to have three producing mines in the Middle Orange River, our production profile is now more flexible and sustainable. We are pleased too, that diamond quality and the frequency of larger stones has improved as anticipated. This included the recovery of 12 stones between 50 carats and 100 carats and five plus 100 carat rough diamonds in fiscal 2014, the largest of which was a 287 carat stone, the biggest stone recovered in recorded history in the region," Campbell added. The company remains focused on increasing production from and extending the life of mine of its Middle Orange River properties while managing its operating costs.

Lucara Recovers Eight Gem-Quality Diamonds Larger Than 100-Cts.

Lucara Diamond Corporation has recovered 13 diamonds since April 1 that were larger than 100 carats, while two even exceeded 200 carats in size. Eight rough diamonds were classified as gem-quality, with the largest at  259 carats, two at 153 carats and one at 133 carats.
 
Since the beginning of the second quarter, Lucara's  Karowe diamond mine in Botswana has produced 239 diamonds larger than 10.80 carats, including 27 diamonds within the 50-carat and 100-carat range.

The company is planning to host an exceptional stone tender on July 18, with client viewing being scheduled both in Antwerp and in Gaborone. The company is in the process of selecting stones for this tender and it expects to publish details of the offering shortly.

William Lamb, the president of Lucara, said, “The ongoing recovery of these large and exceptional white diamonds continues to drive increased value for Lucara and its shareholders and has established the Karowe mine as a rare source of truly exceptional diamonds.   The ongoing recovery of such stones is encouraging for a potential third exceptional stone tender during the fourth quarter of 2014."

DCLA Australia's leading diamond grading laboratory

 

DCLA Australia's leading diamond grading laboratory has turned 13.
 

The Sydney based DCLA laboratory is a one of a kind, as the only laboratory in Australia grading to international IDC standards and regulations. 

Technologically advanced and accurate the DCLA has been long considered the industry standard, Respect by the discerning trade and consumers.

Thank you for your support and , We look forward to celebrating the milestone with you.

Source: DCLA