By John Helmer in Moscow With the end of the year 2008, the last of the legendary diamond cartel deals has sunk back into the murk from which it originated when Cecil Rhodes created his African Diamond Syndicate in 1873. Forced three years ago by a ruling of the European Commission (EC) to halt trading […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow Alrosa, Russia’s state-owned diamond miner, has reported that rough sales this year have slipped by 1.1%, and will slip by ten times that margin in 2009. Alrosa, a wholly state owned shareholding company controlled by the federal government, does not issue production and financial results by the half-year or quarter. […]

by John Helmer - Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
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By John Helmer in Moscow A 21-day ultimatum has been issued to the Russian government to put up the Grib pipe in Arkhangelsk for development by a joint venture between De Beers and LUKoil; or else De Beers will walk out of Russian diamond mining for good. Sources close to De Beers claim that some […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow The Russian government agency responsible for negotiating the terms of DeBeers’s new Grib diamond mine project in the Arkhangelsk region of northwestern Russia has agreed to extend a deal deadline, which fell on November 15. At that point, and in the week that followed, De Beers and its affiliate Archangel […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, November 20th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Market reports that Smolensk Kristall refused last month to buy rough from Alrosa have been denied by Alrosa. According to sources in Alrosa, the Russian state diamond company, Kristall proposed a 20% discount on purchases of Alrosa’s current rough price. Alrosa refused to supply, claiming that its pricing is in […]

by John Helmer - Friday, November 14th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow De Beers has a hundred-million dollar hook in its mouth, and it isn’t sure whether to bite, or try spitting it out. Russian sources say that the conditional approval, granted last month by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the Verkhotina diamond mining project to commence with joint venture partner LUKoil, […]

by John Helmer - Friday, November 7th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow An attempt by lenders to Alrosa to increase charges for a $350 million one-year syndicated loan has triggered recriminations between the banks in the syndicate, and a categorical denial by Alrosa that it has agreed to pay more. Morgan Stanley heads the syndicate, which also includes Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) and […]

by John Helmer - Friday, October 24th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow The share price of Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC) collapsed yesterday as a company statement acknowledged that its fund-raising of $174.4 million to restart the Grib pipe mining project, in northwest Russia, will be returned to shareholders. ADC issued its statement after PolishedPrices.com had reported that delays in issuing project approvals […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow Mining entrepreneur Mike Nunn says First African Diamonds, a company he owns, was illegally expropriated, and that he is taking the DRC government to arbitration in Geneva. President Joseph Kabila’s review and reorganization of controversial diamond-mining licences and concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) apparently took a new […]

by John Helmer - Monday, September 15th, 2008
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By John Helmer in Moscow On most indicators the first full financial report issued since Sergei Vybornov took command of Alrosa in February 2007 indicates modest retreat. Sales totalled Rb90.7 billion; converted to US dollars at the December 31, 2007, rate, this is equivalent to $3.7 billion. The result marks a 4% decline in Alrosa […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
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