Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

Global demand dropped so much between January and March that the period became the weakest first quarter since the 2008 financial crisis.

Contact has been made with three of the workers trapped at the company's Masakhane gold mine.

The 46-carat pink diamond is the largest coloured gem-quality stone ever recovered at the company's Lulo project.

The parties said they believed an out-of-court settlement was far preferable for all concerned than an inevitably lengthy and expensive litigation process .

Driverless trucks at the same iron ore operations already haul over a quarter of both ore and waste material.

Most claimants are black miners from South Africa and neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, whom critics say were not provided with adequate protection during and even after the Apartheid ended in 1994.

Skeena will receive Cdn$1.75 million in cash plus another Cdn$1.75 million in StrikePoint common shares at a value of Cdn$0.225, based upon the 20-day average price of the stock.

The proposed acquisition means Chaarat would own Kumtor and will have control over management and operations of the mine.

Lack of new projects, investment deficit and increasing political risk will hit supply of cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel, key metals for making the batteries that power electric cars.

The two companies will exchange past exploration information on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe and form a jointly-owned special purpose vehicle to develop and exploit diamond resources.