This rare blue diamond was just found in Australia

One shouldn't compare pears and squares but there is no better indication that coloured diamonds are spearheading record auction prices than news that a yellow weighing slightly less than the 33-carat flawless D-colour Liz Taylor wore every day, is expected to fetch three time as much as the Hollywood legend's gem when it goes on sale next month.

The Ottawa Citizen reports that the Ontario NDP, which is fighting a provincial election and challenging the incumbent Liberal Party, want to change the provincial mining act so more mine processing work stays in the province. The Liberal Party says such legislation would ultimately hurt the industry.

One of the world's most exclusive jewellery sellers says it is prepared to cut more deals with diamond mines in exchange for preferential access to the precious stones, reports the FT. Tiffany & Co told the Financial Times it would repeat a deal it make this year to lend $50 million to a mine in Sierra Leone in exchange for the right to buy its rough diamonds.

Namakwa Diamonds sold its mining and exploration operations for US$6.25 million to Hall Farm Avenue Limited, the corporate vehicle of a management team lead by the Company’s DRC Country Manager, James Tregenza. Payment will be settled over a 5-year period, with a minimum payment of US$1.25m required in each year during this period.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation, involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts, has provided an update on its 100%-owned Renard Diamond Project saying it now expects a longer life and increased annual output of some 2 million carats. The company said the release of the feasibility study for the $450 million project is imminent and it could start producing in 2015. Stornoway last week joined the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index, a move which should increase the appeal of the counter among institutional investors.

Botswana aims to transform itself into an international hub of the world diamond industry, boosted by a deal in which the De Beers mining and sales empire will transfer the sorting, valuing and selling of rough diamonds from London to Gaborone by the end of 2013. The agreement also provides for Botswana to sell 10 percent of its diamonds independently of De Beers, rising to 15 percent in five years' time. Gaborone's Mmegi newspaper reported Tuesday that all 66 of De Beers' sightholders from around the world are expected to travel to Gaborone at least ten times a year. Africa's failure to add value to resources within their countries of production has long been identified as a major hindrance to the continent's growth.

BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers’s annual pay grew by 8.5 per cent in the last financial year, to $US11.6 million ($11.37 million). The pay rise (in US dollars) came in a financial year in which the company posted a record Australian corporate profit, growing 86 per cent from the previous year to $US23.6 billion.

Despite order books that are full and robust commodity prices, Rio Tinto says that customer sentiment is now more cautious and physical markets are softer than they were six months ago. Executives from Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest diversified miners, voiced their concerns at an investor seminar in London and New York on Tuesday. The company is finding that customers are concerned over the health of the OECD economies and persistent volatility in financial markets.

Diamond producer De Beers expects global demand growth for rough diamonds to set a new record this year on the exceptionally strong performance of its key US market and robust demand in China and India, the head of the company’s distribution arm said. Despite global volatility and concerns that the global economy is sliding towards another financial crisis, demand for diamonds was unlikely to be badly impacted because of its safe-haven appeal, Diamond Trading Co (DTC) Chief Executive Varda Shine told Reuters in an interview on Monday.