Everyone wants Kate Middleton’s diamond ring

BHP Billiton, owner of the Ekati diamond mine, reported revenues of $1.01 billion from diamond sales in the fiscal ear ending June 30, 2011, a 12.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Mountain Province Diamonds said on Wednesday it is breaking off talks with unspecified parties that showed an interest in the company and is instead focusing on advancing its Gahcho Kué project and to arrange its share of the financing which amounts to some $600 million. Shares in the little-traded company jumped almost 8% on the news.

The Ghana government handed over state-owned Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD) to a new investor, Great Consolidated Diamond Ghana Ltd (GCDGL), at a ceremony held on Tuesday in Akwatia, 80 km northwest of here.

The Business Standard reports with gold prices setting new record highs every alternate day, jewellery makers are adopting various methods to minimise its use in diamond jewellery without compromising look and feel. While many have increased mechanisation and reduced manufacturing of hand-made jewellery, others are replacing gold’s weight with diamond to keep investors’ interest intact. Another option is using silver with rhodium plating. Ideally, gold content in diamond jewellery should be 35% in terms of its weight. But, many jewellers have reduced gold content massively in the first half of the calendar year to keep the prices down.

Zimbabwe's government has given foreign companies including miners and banks a 14-day ultimatum to submit plans on how they propose to transfer majority stakes to local owners or risk losing permits, state media reported on Friday. However, immediately thereafter the country's central bank governor Gideon Gono launched a scathing attack on the minister responsible for the indigenization policy saying the threats “could irreparably harm the nerve-centre of the recovering economy.” Before a new unity government in 2009 Zimbabwe economy had shrank by as much as half over the preceding decade amid hyperinflation, property seizures and civil unrest. The country is the number two platinum producer in the world and rich in gold and diamonds.

Kazakhstan, strategically placed between China and Russia, has a wealth of mineral riches which it is eager to profit from. While Kazakhstan is probably best known for its oil, changes are on the horizon as mining companies flow in searching for copper, gold, zinc and other natural resources.

A day after news of an onerous new mining royalty and taxation regime in Peru, Namibia, the world’s biggest miner of offshore diamonds and a top four uranium producer, drops plans for a huge jump in the corporate tax rate for miners and mineral export levies. Deputy Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said on Wednesday, the country has withdrawn a proposal to increase the tax on non-diamond miners to 44% from 37.5% and will instead propose a windfall tax when international prices for the commodities are high. Namibia was one of 25 countries around the world that recently announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry’s profits or impose ownership and other restrictions.

Stellar Pacific Ventures announced that it was awarded by the Ministry of Mines of the Republic of Mali, an exploration authorization for the Namarana area which covers over 132 km2. This mineral title was delivered July 22, 2011 to Stellar Pacific Mail SARL, the company's wholly owned (100%) subsidiary in Mali.

Petra Diamonds is pleased to announce that Ministerial consent in terms of Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (“MPRDA”) has been granted for the cession and transfer of the new order mining right for the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa (“Finsch”) from De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited (“De Beers”) to Afropean Diamonds (Pty) Limited (”Afropean”). Afropean represents Petra’s interests in Finsch; Afropean being owned as to Petra 74% and Petra’s Black Economic Empowerment partners 26%.