Beny Steinmetz Group to Float Sierra Leone Diamond Mine

Koidu diamond mine in Sierra Leone

The Beny Steinmetz Group, will soon issue an initial public offering for its Koidu diamond mine in Sierra Leone, according to the Financial Times and other reports.

The privately held natural resources company will issue its float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in later half of 2012 through a spinoff company called Octea, which serves as the holding company for the mine, according to the report. It will attempt to raise $400 million to $600 million and achieve a valuation of $2 billion to $3 billion.

BSG reportedly says the mine is expected to produce 500,000 carats this year and buyers of the its diamonds include Tiffany & Co.

It’s the latest attempt to take advantage of rising diamond demand in Asia along with dwindling supply. The Oppenheimer family, which owned a major stake in De Beers, sold out to its partner Anglo America for $5.1 billion. Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa is also reportedly attempting a listing. Other investment vehicles are being developed by luxury retailer Harry Winston, which has a 40-percent stake in the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada, diamond dealer Martin Rapaport, who is known for his Rap Diamond Price List, and Clive Cowdery, the founder of the U.K. insurance company, Resolution.

This float also highlights the dramatic changes of the diamond mining industry in the west African country. In the 1990s, the illicit use diamond mines were used by rebel groups to fund the attempted overthrow of the government and commit atrocities on its citizens, including mass murder, mutilations and virtual slavery in the diamond mines. It eventually led to ban of diamonds from the country.

The fact that Tiffany, which prides itself on being a good corporate citizen, is now sourcing diamonds from the mine showcases the international effort to end the abuse of the illicit diamond trade and its ability to bring stability to the country.

Ashley Morgan, Yael Create Jewelry Collection to Benefit Sierra Leone

Earrings from the new line

San Francisco-based fine jewelry designers Ashley Morgan and Yael Designs in the first collaboration are creating a jewelry collection to benefit Sierra Leone. The Leone Collection is expected to debut in the fall of this year.

Designed by Morgan and manufactured by Yael, the Leone Collection includes rings, earrings and necklaces featuring conflict-free custom cut black diamonds set in 18k recycled blackened gold and accented with white diamonds and Japanese seed pearls. Inspired by the royal image of Sierra Leone–or Lion Mountain–the collection refashions regal images of nature found on crowns and royal architecture throughout human history.

“We wanted to create a collection that brings regal beauty to the modern age and speaks to the universal values of our world’s many cultures,” Morgan said.

“As jewelry designers, we wanted to do our part to help rebuild Sierra Leone—a country that has been so negatively impacted by the diamond trade industry,” added Yehouda Saketkhou, Yael Designs CEO.

Two percent of the profits from the Leone Collection will be donated to Schools for Salone, a Seattle-based nonprofit that helps build schools, train teachers and give scholarships in Sierra Leone. The donation from the Leone Collection will be used to help build a primary school in Lungi Village in the southern part of Sierra Leone.

The price for Leone Collection starts at $1,200. The collection will be available online at http://www.ashleymorganyael.com and in select stores.

Sierra Leone Diamond Exports Up 43%

Photo from AFP

Diamond exports from Sierra Leone increased by 43 percent in the first half of 2010 over the same period last year, reaching $51 million, the Government's Gold and Diamond Office reportedly said Wednesday.

In the first six months of 2009 exports totaled more than $35.8 million, Agence France-Presse reports the government saying in a press release. 

This is the highest amount of exports from the West African since the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme  was implemented in 2000, according to the Sierra Leone government.

The Kimberley process seeks to ensure the sale of diamonds does not fund violence.

Deputy Mining Minister Ignatius Koroma told AFP the figures are the result of a recent decision to reduce the fee for the export license for diamond dealers from $40,000 to $35,000, due to a slowing in the diamond market.

Sierra Leone's government has stepped up efforts to control the trafficking of diamonds across its borders, AFP reports.

The illegal trading of so called blood diamonds was rife in the country's decade-long civil war, which ended in 2002.