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Gold/Mining/Energy : A CANADIAN DIAMOND HUNT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Letmebe Frank who wrote (867)	4/3/2003 10:53:04 PM
From: Rocket Red	Respond to of 930

Thanks Ya The Mumbo Jumbo NR today really sucks. My feeling says in the release were going to feasability (just my thoughts on it)cause there clearly in that release states alot of ifs about Sept 11 2001 (Thats why Diamond values dropped and thats not even true values dropped long before as per 2001 nr modeled values in AUG 2001. Its mind thrashing the stuff on how they vame up with this years modeled values.Its all for there POCKETS De-beers is suppose to be the greatest(At What?) There modeled numbers have a 18% to 20% ++++ difference in the modeled values and if there so good why the big difference?

To: Letmebe Frank who wrote (867)	4/3/2003 10:58:17 PM
From: Rocket Red	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 930

Diamond prices at an all-time high March 16, 2003. Justin Brown Global prices of diamonds are at an all-time highs due to more money being spent on advertising and branding, says Marcus Randolph, president of BHP Billiton's diamonds and specialty products (D&SP) division. "There were solid diamond sales at Christmas and good sales on Valentine's Day with rough prices close to all time highs. Branding and promotion are stimulating demand," he added. BHP Billiton has implemented a branding strategy for its diamonds under the CanadaMark and Aurias Diamonds trade names, which are achieving significant premiums on the diamond market place. "If a diamond product carries our CanadaMark brand then its is sourced from Canada and carries our guarantee of quality. We are also co-branding with retail brands in major chains. Branding is particularly important for the North American market," said D&SP chief development officer Kowie Strauss. BHP Billiton's D&SP division is one of the group's seven customer sector groups (CSGs) and houses the group's diamond and titanium interests as well as US metals distribution business Integris Metals. BHP Billiton is one of the world's largest commodity groups and has interests in aluminium, energy coal, base metals, petroleum, carbon steel materials, stainless steel materials as well as D&SP. In its 2002 financial year, BHP Billiton's turnover was $17.778-billion. The D&SP CSG contributed 12% or $173-million to the group's total earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the half-year to December 2002. A player in world diamonds BHP Billiton is one of five major players in the global diamond market along with De Beers, the world's largest diamond miner, Russia's Alrosa, the second largest player, Rio Tinto and Israel's Leviev. Global commodity giant Anglo American has a 45% stake in De Beers. "Diamonds are currently showing real price appreciation, steady growth in demand and low price volatility," Randolph said. BHP Billiton is involved in four of the five major stages of the diamond value chain, which are: mining, rough marketing, polishing and manufacture, jewellery manufacture but not retail jewellery. The group is becoming particularly active in diamond polishing and manufacture along with Israel's Leviev while De Beers, for instance, dominates production and rough marketing but, for anti-trust reasons, has little role in diamond polishing and manufacture. In 2002, BHP Billiton stopped selling its diamonds through De Beers' Diamond Trading Company and the group now does its own diamond marketing. The future outlook for diamonds is bright as global demand is currently not being met by supply, Randolph said. Global diamond demand is currently expanding at 2% to 3% per year with the major new markets for the gem being China and India. "The supply of diamonds is at full capacity with new discoveries of diamond deposits needed to meet demand," Randolph said. Botswana, which supplies about 31% of the global supply, has a stable supply of diamond, Russian (17%) supply is declining while Canadian (6%) supply of diamonds is growing but off a low base. BHP Billiton is currently prospecting in Canada and Botswana for further diamond finds. Ekati in Canada BHP Billiton's only diamond mine is Ekati in Canada, which started on budget at under $20-million and on schedule in 1998. The Ekati mine is situated in the Artic circle in Canada's Northwest Territories. Diamond ore through put has increased from 9,000 tons per day in 1998 to over 12,000 tons per day in 2003. During the period from 1998 to 2003, BHP Billiton increased its stake in Ekati from 51% to 80% at a cost of $426-million. Diamond carats produced have increased from just over one million carats in the 1999 financial year to about five million carats in the current 2003 financial year. The cash cost per carat produced has declined from $65 a carat in the 1999 financial year to about $45 a carat in the current 2003 financial year. BHP Billiton has played close attention to the principles of sustainable development, Randolph said. About 42% of the mine's workforce is indigenous. "We are aware of our social license to operate. A lot of our workforce are illiterate and we have a large literacy programme. In 2001 and 2002 Ekati was named as one of Canada's top 100 employers," Randolph said. Temperatures at the Ekati mine are hostile, going down to minus 50 to 60 degrees centrigrade. I-Net Bridge

To: Letmebe Frank who wrote (867)	4/3/2003 11:34:28 PM
From: Rocket Red	Respond to of 930

The savage 8% royalty to be levied by the South African government on diamond producers may still be up for debate, but it will certainly make any junior company considering possible operations there think again. By Charles Wyatt, Minesite.com According to Wyatt, there is only one explanation for such a high rate and that has to be that elements in the ANC think that the privatised De Beers makes too much money. Simple as that, and the situation cannot have been helped by the row it had with the South African government a couple of years ago over valuations of diamonds being transferred to the Diamond Trading Company in London.