Diamonds forecast to regain pre-pandemic sparkle in 2022-2024

Miner will pay a special dividend worth $4 billion, or $2.43 cent a share, as it recorded its highest annual underlying earnings in the last five years.

The rock, a unique transparent one with a visible yellow shade and of gem-quality, is the second major find since the launch of the Verkhne-Munskoye diamond deposit.

Zimbabwe's diamond sector has struggled since the government kicked out private companies from the eastern Marange fields.

De Beers announced the change as its mining footprint in both countries is shrinking.

De Beers has invested in a synthetic diamond factory in the U.S. state of Oregon, which should produce more than half a million rough carats a year in 2020.

Ernst & Young’s Canadian Mining Eye index, which tracks the performance of 100 Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange mid-tier and junior miners — dropped 2% in the last quarter of 2018.

BHP, Anglo American touch one-year highs.

According to Fitch Solutions, off-grid mines could benefit from reducing their dependency on diesel while taking advantage of the region's favourable climate conditions.

Analysts said appointing Richard Duffy, who has held finance posts in his 27 years in mining, would benefit the company as it sought to cut debt.