Palladium draws fresh speculative interest

Palladium caught yet another bid this week, once again hitting fresh highs Thursday of around $1,180/oz, and only just shy of that during Friday trade, as speculators bought into already tight physical market conditions, sources said.

One trader said to S&P Global Platts that palladium is the one thing that keeps him up at night. He said he believes that the metal has a lot more upside, but having already gained around 40% since August alone, he is cautious of getting too long.

AWDC supports MyKYCBank

Due to the great interest in MyKYCBank, new info sessions about this have been planned for January 2019, said AWDC. MyKYCBank allows diamond traders to register on the platform, where they are to fill in all their KYC information and upload the supporting documents. As such, all KYC documents, from proof of company registration to passport copies of directors, are saved in the system.

By making connections with other companies on the platform, this information can be shared between members of the platform. This way, you no longer need to ask all KYC documents from your client, but you can download them from the platform and keep them for your administration.

Contribution of women in mining recognized

The Minerals Council South Africa congratulates the Women in Mining (WIM) Top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining revealed at the launch of the 2018 publication in London, with Daphne Mashile Nkosi (a 2015 South African nominee) - executive chairperson, Kalagadi Manganese - as the guest speaker.

This is the WIM third edition of the Top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining, which aims to showcase the significant impact and contribution of women within the global mining industry while identifying inspirational role models. The search was open to any woman working in the mining sector, including industries related to or supporting the industry.

Refinitiv Interim Silver Market Review!

At the Annual Silver Industry Dinner hosted by the Silver Institute, Johann Wiebe, Lead Analyst in the GFMS team at Refinitiv presented the GFMS / Silver Institute Interim Silver Market Review, which includes provisional supply and demand forecasts for 2018. According to its’ highlights, the silver market is expected to experience a physical surplus of 35.3 Moz which is substantially higher than the previous year.

Net holdings of ETPs have contracted 0.5 Moz to-dates, following seven annual increases in the last decade. On the other hand, exchange inventories have increased for the third consecutive year in 2018, particularly on COMEX which represents approximately 76% of total, rising by 52.5 Moz. As such, the net balance is expected to post a shortfall of 16.7 Moz.

Richemont’s 2018 Interim Report

Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, announces the publication of its interim report and accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2018. According to the report, the six-month period ended 30 September 2018, sales increased by 21% at actual rates to € 6.81 billion. Excluding YNAP and Watchfinder, collectively the Online Distributors, sales for the period grew by 6% at actual exchange rates and by 8% at constant exchange rates.

Here is to count Richemont’s Online move! On 26 October 2018, they announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba Group, the preferred online marketplace for Chinese consumers, aiming at becoming a significant and sustainable online destination in luxury shopping for the important Chinese clientele. YNAP and Alibaba will establish a joint venture to bring the in-season offerings of YNAP to Chinese consumers, be it in China or whilst travelling abroad.

HK Magnificent Jewels auction on 27

On 27 November, Christie’s Hong Kong will hold its Magnificent Jewels auction, featuring over 260 lots of exquisite and rare jewels. The focal point of the season is The Peacock Necklace, a superb Kashmir royal blue sapphire and diamond necklace is estimated to fetch HK$95,000,000 - 120,000,000/US$12,000,000 - 15,000,000.

Also leading the season is an array of spectacular diamonds, exceptional gemstones, including: a superb 10.04 carats Burmese Pigeon’s Blood ruby and diamond ring (estimate: HK$54,000,000 - 68,000,000/US$6,750,000 - 8,500,000), The Moon Of Baroda, a 24.04 carats fancy yellow VS2 diamond necklace is estimated to bag HK$HK$4,000K - 6,000K/US$500K – 750K.

Continued Weakness in Capital Flows

External Imbalances & Financing Risks

Aggravate financing challenges!

Elevated Financing Risks for Corporates

The cost of financing could remain elevated

Expected a gross borrowing of INR6.47tn in FY19

According to Arindam Som, Analyst & Soumyajit Niyogi, Associate Director of IndRa, a sustained tightening of monetary condition coupled with challenging external environment is likely to aggravate financing challenges for Indian corporates against the backdrop of not-so-benign domestic credit market, says India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

The agency previously highlighted that corporate credit spreads are likely to widen owing to the pressure on capital account in an environment of twin deficit, i.e. combined fiscal and current account deficit. An analysis of the top 500 debt-heavy corporates indicates that a gross borrowing of INR6.47 trillion (including refinancing) is expected in FY19.

Botswana Diamonds holds Sunland by 100%

Sunland is no more a JV, it is acquired 100%

According to Botswana Diamonds that the company now holds 100% of the equity in Sunland Minerals, having acquired for a nominal sum the 50% previously held by Alrosa as part of the Company's joint venture with Alrosa for the Sunland JV.

Initially Botswana Diamonds had 50% of holding & now, acquires remaining 50% of Sunland from Alrosa thus, the Company's 100% ownership allows for a new investor to enter as a new joint venture partner. Obligatory work could begin in the first half 2019 focussing on targets identified in 2018.

Mountain Province saw a high price for lower qualities

Latest diamond sale of Mountain Province announced

High price for lower qualities rough!

Slight increase in the rough price of lower qualities & smaller sizes

The latest diamond sale of Mountain Province is closed on November 14th 2018. These results include the sale of fancies and specials to De Beers Canada as part of the previous production split, where De Beers Canada was the successful bidder.

BK16 could be a high value diamond producer

BK16 diamonds are like AK6-Karowe mine

Most of BK16 diamonds are of D color

Tsodilo Resources hikes Diamond Valuation of BK16

after Independent Modelled Valuation & Grade Results

Tsodilo Resources Limited has announces BK16 Independent Modelled Diamond Valuation and Grade Results Model Price - US$ 710 to US$ 386 Per Carat Model Grade - 11 to 8 cpht.

Tsodilo Resources announces the results of an independent modelled grade and diamond value for an aggregate 77.94 carat parcel of 502 commercial size (+1mm) diamonds. Which were recovered from Large Diameter Drilling (LDD) from four kimberlite units of the BK16 kimberlite pipe in the Orapa Kimberlite Field, Botswana.