As it continues to grow its presence in Africa by introducing new brands and entering new countries, Hilton has announced it is on track to more than double in size in the next five years with the opening of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, Curio Collection by Hilton – the company’s first Curio Collection by Hilton hotel in Africa. Legend Hotel Lagos Airport is located at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, which serves more than eight million passengers each year . The stylish hotel is adjacent to the airport’s private jet terminal and has an exclusive immigrations and customs desk in the hotel for private jet…
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Botswana Diamonds, the AIM and BSE listed explorer, says it has concluded an agreement with Vast Resources plc, the AIM listed mining and resource development company, for the development of their concessions in the prolific Marange Diamond Fields (‘MDF’) of eastern Zimbabwe. A separate agreement will cover the joint development of diamond properties outside of the MDF, which will be a straightforward 50/50 joint venture, though the initial focus of our joint work is on the MDF. As previously announced, Vast has exclusive access to key diamond concessions (the ‘Heritage Concession’) in the MDF of the Chiadzwa region of eastern…
Stanbic Bank Botswana, a member of Standard Bank Group, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, and Botswana Finance LLC, a subsidiary of Lazare Kaplan International (LKI), have signed a $125 million loan guaranty, which will encourage and support lending to diamond manufacturers and polishing companies while allowing the organisations to share credit risk. In keeping with Standard Bank’s objective of driving growth in Africa, this loan guaranty will help diversify Botswana’s economy, drive the development of the local financial sector and give local companies access to financing. Stanbic Bank has been lending to diamond…
Open Pit Mining Activities Cradle Arc (AIM: CRA), the African focused base and precious metals exploration and production company says following the resumption of normal production drilling rates in August 2018, enabling a significant amount of waste stripping to be completed, approximately 2 million tonnes of accessible transitional and supergene ore has now been exposed within the Mowana North pit and North Rim Extension. Such material is anticipated to deliver improved recoveries at a reduced production cost over the remainder of the year and into 2019. Processing Operations As announced on 29 August 2018, due to the lower volume of…
The Millennial and Gen Z generations combined accounted for two-thirds of global diamond jewellery sales in 2017, as diamond jewellery demand reached a new record high of US$82 billion, according to data published today by De Beers Group in its latest Diamond Insight Report. Millennials, those people currently aged 21 to 39, represent 29% of the world’s population and are the current largest group of diamond consumers. They accounted for almost 60% of diamond jewellery demand in the US in 2017 and nearly 80% in China. Gen Z, those currently aged up to 20, is an even larger consumer generation…
The International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR), a member of De Beers Group, says its industry-first synthetic screening device, SYNTHdetect, was awarded Industry Innovation of the Year at last night’s JNA Awards in Hong Kong.Launched last year, SYNTHdetect is the first synthetic diamond screening device to simultaneously test multiple stones in set jewellery and has the industry’s lowest referral rate at around 0.05 per cent. Jonathan Kendall, President, IIDGR, said it is a real honour to be recognised among our industry peers with this award, which is testament to IIDGR’s mission to continually pioneer new innovations to support…
Minergy, the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed coal mining and trading company, has released results for the year ended 30 June 2018. While Minergy is still in the development and exploration phase, with the results reflecting expenditure and investment in capex typical of this, substantial progress has been made towards full operational status, boosted by the granting of a mining licence post year-end. The company had also invested in infrastructure during the year, including offices in Medie and Lentsweletau in addition to its head office in Gaborone. Minergy CEO, Andre Bojé, said the company was pleased to report such satisfactory…
A widely reported story that 90 elephants have been slaughtered in Botswana recently has been denounced as fake by the authorities. A government statement slammed the report, attributed to Elephants without Borders, as “false and misleading”, saying “at no point in the last months or recently were 87 or 90 elephants killed in one incident in any place in Botswana.” Botswana’s government and Survival International believe the story is linked to measures by the authorities there to disarm anti-poaching units. Many conservationists are promoting the militarisation of conservation – the arming of wildlife officers, and shoot on sight policies towards anyone labelled…
Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. said its securityholders voted at a special meeting held to approve the previously announced Plan of Arrangement pursuant to which De Beers Canada Inc. will, amongst other things, acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Peregrine for cash consideration of $0.24 per share. The special resolution regarding the Arrangement was passed with approval by 98.35% of votes cast by Peregrine shareholders at the Meeting in person or by proxy and by 98.5% of votes cast by Peregrine shareholders, optionholders and warrantholders voting together as a single class at the Meeting in person or by…
Diamond prices dropped slightly in August due to slow trading during the summer vacation. The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI™) for 1-carat diamonds fell 0.5% during the month — typically a quieter period, as bourses in Belgium and Israel close for business. After a strong first half, the 1-carat RAPI index was 2.5% higher than in the beginning of 2018 and increased 1% in the 12 months that ended September 1.Dealers were conservative during August while preparing for the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, which begins September 12. Expectations for the show are mixed, with suppliers hoping to assess prospects…