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Gold/Mining/Energy : Winspear Resources -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ddl who wrote (11547)	1/11/1999 2:11:00 PM
From: .Trev	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26850

Denis I think I have some comments somewhere on file from RTP on the values of their Argyle pinks, which are found only in tiny single digit numbers per year. If I get a chance I'll dig them up and post them later in the day. Regards

To: ddl who wrote (11547)	1/11/1999 3:45:00 PM
From: Tony O	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26850

Hello Denis...Some information from what I understand .........Winspear's properties contain mostly dykes not pipes and dykes have a tendency to produce higher quantities and qualities of gems per volume........... Some of the richer African mines are from dykes........ Bulk sampling is better for pipes, you don't need as big a bulk sample with a dyke to indicate what might be there ..dykes are much narrower........also I think it may be possible that the "Big World Diamond Company" would like to see bad rumors about Winspear in order to keep a mine from developing just like Mt. Provincial which is now 60% or so owned by DeBeers....I'm no expert so take it as is....I think you will see good news in April perhaps sooner.....Best Regards Tony O

To: ddl who wrote (11547)	1/12/1999 12:28:00 AM
From: .Trev	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26850

:Denis: At last I found the article I was looking for and since it's on paper the only way I can post it is by typing it so watch out for typos. It's title “ IN THE PINK” and it's in an RTP house magazine called Review (#40 Dec 1996_ Every September in the Beau Rivage Hotel, overlooking the shore of Lac Leman in Geneva, executives of Argyle Diamonds go through an annual ritual. It is a breathtaking moment as they slit open the sealed envelopes knowing that they contain bids totaling several millions of US Dollars for some of the rarest gems on earth - the Argyle Pink Diamonds. It is one of the world's most exclusive diamond tenders and only top gem dealers and jewelers who have been invited by Argyle can take part in this prestige event. The sale has become the highlight of Argyle's calendar as it represents the “pinnacle of pink production” . Each year, Argyle picks out 40 to 50 of the top stones, cuts and polishes them in Perth, and then sends them sold wide for viewing. Pink diamonds command premium values because of their rarity and are worth about 20 to 40 times more than their white counterparts. While Argyle produces an array of coloured diamonds from white to yellows ,browns, greens and blues, it is best known for it's pinks. The Argyle mine in the extreme north of Western Australia , which is 6-% owned by RTZ-CRA, and 40% by Ashton Mining, produces over 90% of the world's pink diamonds, although they represent only 0.1 per cent of the mine's output. Prices for many of the stones in the pink tender reach well over $100,000 a carat. But special pink stones can fetch mush more. In 1988 Argyle privately sold a round purplish-red diamond of 1.51 carats for $800,000 per carat. In fact it is a purplish-red diamond which still officially holds the world record for the highest per carat price ever paid. The legendary price was paid by a gem dealer who acquired the 0.95 carat diamond at Christie's on New York for a per carat price of $926,315. If it were possible to convert the stone's unit value into ounces , it would be worth $144.1 million per troy ounce.. The outcome of this year's tender, the twelfth, saw all 47 stones weighing 47.82 carats, go to 13 international buyers. The total value of the sale surpassed the outstanding result achieved in the 1995 pink diamond tender of over $100,000 per carat. Last year , Argyle sold the entire collection of 47 stones weighing 45 carats, to eight buyers for $4.5 million Because of the increased number of interested buyers this year additional viewings were held in Perth and London for the first time, augmenting viewings in Tokyo and Hong Kong, before the closing of the tender in Geneva. Argyle is the world's fifth largest diamond mine in value terms. Of it's annual output of around 36 million carats, just under half go to important industrial applications of diamonds - Argyle is the world's largest supplier in such applications. The balance of 17 million carats of cutable rough diamonds are supplied to the jewelry industry. Argyle is the single largest producer of diamonds used in mass market jewelry in the U>S>,japan, and South East Asia. About 95% of Argyle's jewelry quality output ends up in Indian cutting factories, where it is cut and polished to produce diamonds for jewelry . Around 80 percent of the polished gems are sold into the US market. This year is probably Argyle's most important since the opening of the $350 million mine in 1984. For the first time Argyle has taken full control of marketing it's entire output , following the decision earlier in the year not to renew it's five year marketing contract with DeBeers Central Selling Organization. The South African group controls about 6- percent of the world's diamond output through agreements it holds with leading diamond producers, and thus has a major influence on market prices. Now five months later Argyle has completed it's transition to marketing it's output directly through an expanded sales office in Antwerp. This change in marketing arrangements is of special interest to the Indian diamond processors. Argyle is taking every opportunity to explain the new arrangements to its Indian partners and more than 150 Indian diamanaires attended a special conference in Bombay in October. (There's more but that's it for to-night.)