Diamond prices were on the rebound in 2016 and analysts predict growth in the market to continue in 2017.
Despite volatility in this industry, investors’ interest in diamonds continued to increase.
Here, the Investing News Network (INN) gathered the most read diamond news stories of 2016.
1. Diamond Outlook 2016: Summer to Bring Higher Prices?
The top diamond news story was the outlook for the market in 2016. It was clear at the time that the diamond market had both ups and downs in 2015, but industry experts Paul Zimnisky, of Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics, and Yaniv Marcus, of the Diamond Investment & Intelligence Center, were expecting a market turnaround by the summer.
“The effect of [the factors mentioned above] will be seen in late spring/summer 2016, when the midstream and downstream industries stock for the 2017 holiday season,” said Zimnisky, while Marcus commented, “I think that the current challenges will continue until summer 2016, or right after the second quarter.”
2. Alluvial Mining: Gold, Diamonds and Platinum
The next article on the list explained what is alluvial mining, a technique used as a source of income for individual laborers in Africa and South America. Alluvial mining, it’s the mining of stream bed deposits (also known as alluvial deposits) for minerals. These alluvial deposits are formed when minerals are eroded from their source, and then transported by water to a new locale. When the sediments are deposited, they settle according to their weight, with heavier, more valuable minerals like gold, diamonds and platinum often being deposited at the same time.
3. 5 Top Industrial Diamond-producing Countries
Another top diamond news story was this article that listed the five top natural industrial diamond-producing countries of 2015, using statistics from the US Geological Survey report.
At the top of the list was Russia, with a total mine production of 16 million carats. Although this country’s natural industrial diamond production fell slightly in 2015, dropping from 17 million carats the previous year. Second on the list was the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the natural industrial diamond output remained steady at 13 million carats.
4. Brown Diamonds Set to be the Next Big Thing
At a Due Diligence Tour offered by Rare Investment, a Vancouver-based firm focused on exposing clients to natural fancy colored diamonds and other rare jewel investments, Colin Ferguson, the company’s founder, let attendees in on a surprising piece of information: brown diamonds are poised to be the next big thing in the diamond space.
In his presentation, he stressed that the key thing for investors to understand is that brown diamonds are currently the only colored diamond selling for less than white diamonds. However, that will not always be the case. In fact, Ferguson believes that in about five years, brown diamonds will dramatically increase in price.
5. Martin Rapaport: Cut Rough Diamond Prices by 30 to 50 Percent
Last but not least on the 5 top diamond news stories is this article that reports on Martin Rapaport’s, chairman of the Rapaport Group, opinion about the diamond market. At the time, he outlined why low rough diamond prices are a problem and lambasted those he sees as responsible — namely major diamond miners and banks. His point was that current low diamond demand and low diamond prices won’t be permanent — they were created by the “perfect storm” of macroeconomic events mentioned above, and can’t continue forever.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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