Precious stones

  • Precious stones & metals
    Mar 12, 2024
    Evolving Dynamics in the Russian Jewelry & Watch Retail Market: A Steady Climb Towards Recovery

    In 2022, the Russian jewelry and watches market demonstrated resilience amidst a challenging global landscape, maintaining its market value at $5,240.5 million. Despite facing the headwinds of geopolitical tensions and economic sanctions, particularly stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the market is on a trajectory toward modest growth. By 2027, it is projected to achieve a market value of $5,718.8 million, marking a 9.1% increase from 2022 levels.

     

    The jewelry and watches segment continues to dominate the market, contributing 59.4% to the market’s overall value, underscoring the enduring appeal of these luxury items among Russian consumers. Despite the turbulent economic conditions, Russia remains a significant player in the European jewelry and watches market, accounting for 6.3% of the market’s value.

     

    Market Dynamics and Competitive Landscape

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Feb 20, 2024
    Polymetal to Offload Russian Business for $3.69bn

    Polymetal International plans to sell its Russian business to JSC Mangazeya Plus for approximately $3.69 billion, involving 100% of JSC Polymetal’s share capital. The deal, pending regulatory approvals and shareholder consent, aims to focus on operations in Kazakhstan, potentially enhancing asset valuations and reducing risks and debts. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has assured Polymetal that non-U.S. persons participating in the transaction won’t face sanctions. The transaction is anticipated to conclude by March 2024, with Polymetal CEO Vitaly Nesis emphasizing the move’s benefits for shareholder value and risk reduction, alongside the opportunity for new investments. Polymetal had previously increased its stake in Kazakhstan’s Baksy property to 75% in July, with the remaining 25% owned by JSC Kazgeology.

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    ALROSA presents its rough and polished sales results

    The revenue from sales of rough diamonds and polished diamonds totaled USD336.0 million in September, including USD328.2 million of rough diamond sales and USD7.8 million of polished diamond sales.

     

    In the nine months of 2020, total sales of rough and polished diamonds totaled USD1,580 million, including USD1,508 million of rough diamonds and USD71.4 million of polished diamonds.

     

    “Our sales in September show a continuation of the recovery in diamond demand that began in August as sellers and retailers gradually normalized their inventories. Our customers actively use our tools, which we have significantly improved during the pandemic, like the ALROSA video remote control service, to select goods without having to travel to Moscow.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    Polymetal approves construction of Kutyn Project in the Russian Far East

    Russian precious metal miner Polymetal announced on October 7, 2020 it would continue its USD80 million Kutyn gold project after the approval of the company’s board.

     

    The Kutyn deposit is located in the Tugur-Chumikan district of the Khabarovsk oblast in the Far East of Russia. It is located 114 kilometers northwest of the Albazino mine.

     

    Pre-stripping will begin at Kutyn in the third quarter of next year and the first ore will be mined in 2022.

     

    Albazino is an integral part of Polymetal’s biggest project, the POX Hub Amursk.

     

    Polymetal announced the Kutyn plant’s production and financial results will be released as part of the Albazino-Amursk segment.

     

    The company is targeting gold production at Kutyn in the second quarter of 2023. The mine is expected to produce about 90,000 ounces of gold per year, with the total cost (AISC) at USD590 per ounce.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    Polyus consolidates 100% of SL gold deposit

    On September 23, 2020, PJSC Polyus (PLZL) (Polyus), the largest gold producer in Russia, announced that it intends to accelerate the acquisition of shares in SL Gold Limited Liability Company (SL Gold), the owner of the Sukhoi Log deposit, and consolidate SL Gold by increasing its holding from 78 percent to 100 percent for a total of approximately USD128.2 million.

     

    Shareholder structure of SL Gold

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    ALROSA opens wastewater thickening plant at Udachny

    On September 21, 2020, ALROSA commissioned a thickening complex for remediating tailings at the processing plant no. 12 of the mining and processing division at Udachny.

     

    The project, which will cost more than three billion rubles, will significantly reduce water consumption and increase the efficiency of overburden storage, simplifying the handling of the waste rock left over from the processing of kimberlite.

     

    The tailings thickening complex consists of a pump system, a cyclone cluster, and two large tanks, each with a diameter of 28 meters. The complex uses centrifugal power to extract most of the recycled water from the tailings. The water continues to be used and the remaining sand after thickening is sent to a landfill site.

     

    The project will allow for a modification of the overburden storage system and a significant extension of the life of the existing landfill.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    Polymetal announced first JORC-compliant estimate of reserves for Prognoz

    The original JORC-compliant estimate of ore deposits at Prognoz, dated March 1, 2020, includes 7.9 million tons of ore at an average Ag grade of 560 grams per ton, containing 142 million ounces of silver. The reserves were only used for the ore zones of Glavnaya (Main), Boloto (Swamp), and Yuzhnaya (Southern).

     

    Estimates of reserves are based on the silver price of USD15 per ounce, with silver accounting for about 90 percent of the value at this price level.

     

    The mineral resources added to the ore reserves are estimated at 5.6 million tons of mineralized material at an average grade of 552 grams per ton for 100 million ounces of silver.

     

    The preliminary feasibility study assumes nine years of open-pit mining with conventional flotation flowsheet producing clean high-quality concentrate.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Dec 28, 2020
    Kinross announces dividend & forecasts growth to 2023

    On September 17, 2020, Kinross Gold announced its robust three-year guidance.

     

    Production is expected to increase steadily by 20 percent to 2.9 million gold ounces equivalent (plus or minus five percent) by 2023, and a general downward trend in production costs for sales and investment is expected to boost strong free cash flow.

     

    The company also announced that its board of directors will pay a dividend of USD0.03 per common share on October 22, 2020 to stockholders of record after the close of business on October 8, 2020. In addition, the board of directors approved a plan to pay a quarterly dividend of USD0.03 per common share, which would be USD0.12 per common share on an annualized basis, representing an annualized return of approximately 1.3 percent based on a closing price of USD9.35 on September 17, 2020.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Jul 18, 2020
    ALROSA: 38.5 mln cts in 2019

    On November 28, 2019, ALROSA, the world’s leader in diamond mining, announced its IFRS financial results for the third quarter of 2019.

     

    The core activities of Public Joint Stock company ALROSA and its subsidiaries (“the group”) are exploration and extraction of diamond reserves, as well as marketing and distribution of raw and cut diamonds. The company was registered in August 1992 in the Sakha republic (Yakutia), which is located within the Russian Federation. The group operates mining facilities in Mirny, Udachny, Aikhal, Nyurba, and Anabar in the Sakha republic, located in Eastern Siberia, as well as in the Arkhangelsk region. Licenses for the group’s major diamond deposits are valid until 2021 and 2048. The company’s management believes that the group will be able to extend the licenses’ terms after they expire as necessary.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Nov 23, 2019
    ALROSA posts Q4 and 12M 2018 operating results

    ALROSA, a diamond production leader, reports 2018 production vol-
    ume at 36.7 million (mln) carats; sales of 38.1 mln carats (down eight percent). Sales proceeds rose by six percent to USD4.5 billion (bln).

     

    In the fourth quarter of 2018, diamond production decreased by two percent quarter-on-quarter (up two percent year-on-year) to 10.3 mln carats, driven by a seasonal suspension of production at alluvial deposits, which was almost fully offset by increased output at underground mines. In the 12 months of 2018, production declined by seven percent to 36.7 mln carats due to the shutdown of the Mir underground mine (UM) and the completion of open-pit mining at the Udachnaya pipe.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Nov 23, 2019
    Rebecca Foerster heads ALROSA USA, Inc.

    ALROSA, the largest diamond mining company in the world, has appointed Rebecca Foerster as president of ALROSA USA, Inc. Until recently, Ms. Foerster served as executive vice president of strategic planning and marketing at New York’s Leo Schachter Diamonds, one of the largest diamond suppliers in the United States.

     

    In the new position, Ms. Foerster will be involved in all aspects of the work at ALROSA’s U.S. office, which is located in New York. Principally, she will be responsible for the development of polished diamonds sales and customer service.

     

  • Precious stones & metals
    Aug 18, 2018
    ALROSA will sell the Dynasty collection for USD10 million

    The CEO of Russia’s diamond-mining giant ALROSA said that the company plans to sell a collection of five unique diamonds in November 2017. The starting price for the collection will be USD10 million. The Russian company has the biggest reserves of diamonds estimated in line with JORC standards at 653 million carats. ALROSA’s total resources stand at 1,030 million carats. These gemstones are mined at kimberlite pipes and from placer deposits in Yakutia and the Arkhangelsk region. In 2016, the company extracted a jewelry-quality diamond weighing 207.29 carats. The stone was found at the Zarnitsa pipe of the Udachninsky mining and processing works (MPW) and it is considered one of the largest in the history of the company. The year before, ALROSA extracted a diamond weighing 76.07 carats, which has been appraised at USD430 thousand.

     

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