Nigeria’s new oil minister stated last week that the country expects all four oil refineries to be ready by the end of the year, with the southern Port Harcourt facility possibly beginning operations as early as December. The Port Harcourt refinery will begin processing oil by the end of 2022, the government announced last year. However, NNPC Ltd executives and succeeding oil ministers have launched a number of fruitless plans to restart, remodel, or enlarge
Petra Diamonds’ rough prices decreased at its first tender of the fiscal year as the anticipated pickup in demand proved disappointing. The August trading session brought in $79.3 million from the sale of 696,194 carats, with like-for-like prices — those for similar categories of diamonds — falling 4.3% compared with May, the miner reported Friday. The slowdown was primarily due to flagging prices for rough between 2 and 10.8 carats, which dropped 14% on a like-for-like basis.
A US advertising watchdog has called on e-tailer Agape Diamonds to make the origins of its synthetic and simulated stones clearer. The recommendation came from the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs — a nonprofit that helps businesses self-regulate — after the National Diamond Council (NDC) challenged Agape’s claims, the NAD reported last week. Agape’s promotional material, including how it was presenting products for sale on its website, did not clearly and conspicuously disclose the
Vancouver-headquartered Lucara Diamond has secured a short-term extension of the maturity of its $50-million senior secured working capital facility (WCF). The company says it will defer the placement of $52.9-million in a cost overrun reserve account (CORA) by September 2. The CORA balance is currently $18.3-million. Lucara’s debt package consists of two facilities: a project finance facility of $170-million to fund the development of an underground expansion at the Karowe mine, in Botswana, and the WCF that is used to support ongoing operations.
Bullion miner AngloGold Ashanti has placed the Córrego do Sítio (CDS) mine, in Brazil, on care and maintenance, following a sustained period of poor production and costs that are well above the gold price. CDS is AngloGold’s smallest operation and produced 30 000 oz in the first six months of the year at a total cash cost of $2 278/oz and an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $3 031/oz. The mine produced 69 000 oz last year, accounting for only 2.5% of
De Beers will allow sightholders to defer up to half of rough purchases to early next year amid sluggish consumer demand and high midstream stockpiles, market insiders told Rapaport News. The miner wrote to customers last week, informing them that they could avoid buying parts of their allocations of 1-carat goods and larger for the rest of 2023, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The allowance is 25% by value for some boxes and 50% for others,
Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered a 692.3-carat diamond from its Karowe mine in Botswana, the second massive rough from the deposit this month. The white, type IIa stone came from the EM/PK(S) unit in the south lobe, known for its large, high-quality rough, Lucara said on Monday 21st of August. The miner found the diamond via its XRT unit, which uses X-ray technology to identify huge stones in large pieces of ore before they get broken up.
Prices of petrol and diesel are likely to increase averagely by about 5.7% over the current mean price of ¢12.45 per litre, for the next two weeks. The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas is also expected to go up by about 11.9%. According to the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), the expected increase is due to the 11.00% rise in prices of finished products on the international market and the about 6.79% surge in the
The company Nacala Logistics, which operates the northern Mozambican port of Nacala and the rail corridors from the port, has just started sending liquid fuels from Nacala to Malawi, by rail. The first operation, as reported in the latest issue of the Maputo daily “Notícias”, consists of 29 tanker wagons containing 1.1 million litres of diesel. Previously, fuel was supplied to Malawi by road from the central Mozambican port of Beira, and the Tanzanian city
Green hydrogen development company Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with import-export company Itochu Corporation to explore areas for potential collaboration on sub-Saharan Africa’s first fully vertically integrated green hydrogen project in Namibia. The agreement was signed on 8 August by Hyphen Hydrogen Energy CEO, Marco Raffinetti, and CEO of the Africa Bloc at Itochu Corporation, Shinya Ishizuka. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry,
