Five reasons why diamond mining stocks have been under pressure

North American stock exchanges are on a tear today after central banks made more funds available to lenders, giving investors hope for a way out of the European debt debacle. The markets were also cheered by better than expected private sector job growth in the United States. The mining-heavy S&P/TSX Composite was up 2.5% to just over 12,000 at time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 384 points, or 3.3%, the most on a closing basis since Aug. 11, according to Bloomberg. Spot gold was up $32 from yesterday to $1747 which is just above the 20-day moving average of $1744, noted Kitco. Silver was up marginally to $32.86 from yesterday's $31.92, while benchmark copper was up more than 5% to a two-week high of $7,885/tonne. Zinc, lead, aluminum and nickel were also up from Tuesday.

BHP Billiton said today it is reviewing its diamond business, which includes two large diamond mines in northern Canada, for a potential sale of all or parts of the business. The world's largest mining company said the review, expected to be completed by the end of January, will "examine whether a continued presence in the diamonds industry is consistent with BHP Billiton’s strategy." BHP owns 80% of the Ekati diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories. The other 20% is owned by geologists Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson (each has a 10% stake), who discovered the kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras in 1991. BHP also owns 51% of the Chidliak diamond exploration property on Baffin Island, with the other 49% owned by Peregrine Diamonds which has been exploring the 860,000-hectare property since 2006. Chidliak also contains copper, platinum group metals and lead-zinc.

Geekosystems reports on a new use for diamonds, providing truly unknowable random numbers that could serve the basis for secure communication. Random numbers are at the heart of modern communication, used for electronic commerce, wireless networks and bank transactions. The basis of secure communication is generating a random number, known as the key, that is shared by the recipient and the sender that is then used to scramble and unscramble the message that is sent between the two parties.

Mmegi Online is reporting a major downsize has taken place at Debswana, a partnership between the Botswana government and De Beers.

One of the more unique lots at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on November 29 in Hong Kong is likely to be a set of poker chips made by the Swedish artist and jeweller Kristian Ståhl. The 120 chips are made of 18K white gold and are set with a total of 5,160 calibrated top-quality diamonds, rubies and sapphires. But what makes the set truly unique is that each chip was sliced from the 1 million year old Muonionalusta meteorite that contains iron, nickel and rare earths. The set is estimated at $100,000 – $150,000 and Stahl said he was inspired to create it after his Siberian mammoth ivory dice sold well at auction last year.

Zimbabwe's efforts to declare its "blood-stained" diamonds clean is bordering (no pun intended) on the ridiculous, writes Tangai Chipangura, a columnist at News Day.

Graff Diamonds Ltd., the jewelry retailer whose founder twice set records buying gems at auction, plans to use funds from a proposed share sale to add stores in Asia as the region’s demand for luxury goods grows. The company plans to open outlets in Macau and Hangzhou, the largest city of Zhejiang province in eastern China, next year, Laurence Graff, 73, the chairman and founder of the London-based company said in a Nov. 18 interview with Bloomberg TV. The retailer has 32 stores worldwide including in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei, according to its website.

Diamonds were the talk of the Tower of London on Tuesday 8 November at a private dinner held to mark the start of a three-day summit to identify the world's most famous diamonds. With over 100 diamonds in the world at 100 carats or more, the criteria for Famous Diamonds must necessarily extend beyond size to focus on the rare qualities and historical provenance of these extraordinary gemstones, for example The Golden Jubilee, the world's largest faceted diamond in the King's Royal Palace in Thailand, The Centenary which has recently returned to the Sultan of Brunei after spending years in a London safety deposit box, the Incomparable hidden in the US and The Light of Peace in the Middle East.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation CA:SWY -10.00% is pleased to announce the results of the Feasibility Study ("FS") for the Renard Diamond Project located in North Central Quebec.