Anglo American soars on positive production report

The World Gold Council (WGC) produced a draft framework of standards designed to combat gold that enables, fuels or finances armed conflict. The standards, which were compiled together with the WDC’s member companies and leading gold refiners are designed to enable miners to produce a stream of newly-mined gold that is certified as “conflict free” on a global basis. Image of Ethiopian soldier is from Wikipedia.

Tiffany & Co. today announced the appointment of Patrick F. McGuiness as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Outgoing CFO James N. Fernandez has been appointed to the newly-created role of chief operating officer.

Jewelry and watch demand strengthened significantly in April in the U.S. market. New data indicates that total jewelry and watch sales rose by 11.2% over the same month a year ago, the largest gain since early 2010, when the industry was beginning to recover from the recession. Further, total jewelry and watch sales for the first three months of 2011 were revised upward, and show a much more consistent, positive trend. Preliminary jewelry sales in prior months had been somewhat choppy – in line with the choppy post-recession economic growth. However, newly revised data shows a pattern of solid monthly sales gains.

On Tuesday Zambia's Finance Minister mocked Zimbabwe and South Africa for planning to forcibly raise government stakes in foreign mines, saying "the Zambian miner in 1970s was a happier miner than a miner during the period of state ownership of the mines.” Under Zimbabwe's on-again off-again indigenization policy mining companies were granted until the beginning of June to submit proposals about transferring majority ownership to locals while there are growing calls within the ruling party in South Africa to move ahead with nationalization as called for in the country's Freedom Charter.

London-listed Gem Diamonds said in a statement on Monday that it will drill four boreholes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in partnership with VOX United, a non-governmental organisation to provide the bushmen or Basarwa living in the reserve with water. The community is locked in a bitter battle with the Botswana government which accuses them of depleting the park's natural resources, while the Basarwa say that the government is violating their rights by trying to relocate them and that their impact on the environment is negligible.

Further to its news release of April 14, 2011 the Company announces that it has completed the private placement of 16,655,920 shares at $0.10 per share, the proceeds of which are to be used to fund the costs of the transaction with Origo Partners PLC ("Origo"), as detailed in the April 14 Release and to retire outstanding indebtedness. The private placement closed in two tranches, with 9,700,000 shares issued subject to a hold period expiring September 6, 2011 and the balance of 6,955,920 shares being issued subject to a hold period expiring October 17, 2011.

The New York Times profiles Laurence Graff, whom the paper calls perhaps the biggest dealer in seriously big stones. In 2008, Graff Diamonds turned a pretax profit of $77 million on sales of $538 million, according to its chief financial officer, Nick Paine. In 2009, sales dropped to $432 million, and pretax profits to $62 million. Last year, sales were virtually flat, but pretax profits jumped to $86 million, mostly because of sales of smaller pieces with higher mark-ups. Which raises the question of how large his inventory of large stones has become.

The Zimbabwe mining industry is expected to conclude a US$1 billion revolving facility at a number of African development banks to recapitalize mining firms as it emerges from a decade of hyperinflation, international sanctions and political turmoil that all but ground the sector to a halt. The mining industry, rich in precious metals and diamonds, made up roughly 20% of Zimbabwe's GDP and at $1.7bn 65% of all exports last year according to government statistics. This figure is set to increase dramatically particularly if the country receives approval to restart diamond exports currently under an international ban.

SW Radio Africa news reports India has raised concerns as Russia is set to join China in moves to control diamond mining in Zimbabwe, with the Federation’s state diamond group Gokhran seeking a license to mine at the controversial Chiadzwa fields. China already has two companies operating there in partnership with Zimbabwe’s state diamond firm. Zimbabwe is set to become the world's leading producer, with an expected volume of 40m carats per year worth some $2bn annually from the rich deposits in Chiadzwa and Marange. The troubled country, emerging from years of hyperinflation and political turmoil, is however barred from selling diamonds because of alleged human rights violations and has built up a stockpile worth $4bn–$5bn.