The Kimberly Process Review Mission to Zimbabwe, led by Liberia’s Deputy Minister of Planning and Development Mr Alfred Kpandel Fayia, yesterday visited River Ranch diamond mine, with the plant manager…

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 3, 2009) - Lucara Diamond Corp. ('Lucara') (TSX VENTURE:LUC) and Motapa Diamonds Inc. ('Motapa') (TSX VENTURE:MTP) are pleased to announce that they have completed the…

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA-- - Lucara Diamond Corp. and Motapa Diamonds Inc. are pleased to announce that they have completed the previously announced acquisition by Lucara of all of the outstanding…

BRC DiamondCore Ltd. announces that further to its earlier press release of today, the Company has been informed that the liquidation application referred to in that announcement was granted by…

An team of inspectors from an anti-”blood diamonds” body was wrapping up a visit to Zimbabwe Friday, where they have been investigating allegations of gross rights abuses in diamond mining.

Mutare — THE head of the visiting Kimberley Process Certification Scheme team yesterday acknowledged efforts by the Government to rid the Chiadzwa diamond fields of illegal miners while dismissing negative…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--The Cameroon government is consulting experts and officials with the aim of bringing forward by two years the start of commercial mining for diamonds at Mobilong in…

BRC DiamondCore Ltd. announces that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement with KIG Mining Plc pursuant to which KIG has agreed to purchase BRC's alluvial diamond projects in…

BRC DiamondCore Ltd. announces that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement with KIG Mining Plc pursuant to which KIG has agreed to purchase BRC's alluvial diamond projects in…

RAPAPORT... Global Markets The U.S. market slowed again this week due to the July 4th long weekend and jewelers starting their summer vacations. The market is still being driven by…

Rapaport TradeWire - Friday, July 03, 2009 News: U.S. market slow as jewelers go on summer vacation. Unemployment hits 26-year high in June at 9.5% and consumer confidence slackens. India’s…

U.S. market slow as jewelers go on summer vacation. Unemployment hits 26-year high in June at 9.5% and consumer confidence slackens. India’s Gitanjali Gems FY09 sales +5% to $1.1 bil.,…

Beaver Creek jeweler hosts trunk show with work by Colorado artist Todd Reed

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister says the Government is working on a new mining law which will include ‘use it or lose it' concept.

Platinum developer, Jubilee Platinum, has made an apparently friendly all-share offer for platinum metallurgical specialist Braemore Resources.

Top bank Morgan Stanley has increased its 2009 copper price forecast to $2.14 per lb and to $2.50 in 2010 as it reckons China's economic recovery will widen and deepen.

Austria's Erste Bank's latest Special report on Gold still rates the yellow metal positively as an investment. A minimally edited version of the introduction to this report is published below.

Centamin Egypt, which announced its first gold pour this week, is to raise USD26 million in a private placement at Cdn$1.56 a share at a small discount to latest stock price.

Major Canadian mining company, Teck resources, is selling a 17.2 percent stake to China Investment Corp to raise proceeds of C$1.74 bln to help it pay down debt.

Mark Mobius, manager of the Templeton Emerging Markets investment trust, said strong economic growth and low inflation continue to support the outlook for emerging markets.

Research by broker Wins suggests Lowland Investment trust may struggle to retain its premium rating given manager James Henderson's dip in relative performance this year.

Franklin Templeton has opened its Luxembourg-registered Templeton Emerging Markets Smaller Companies SICAV to UK investors with a sterling-denominated share class.

The exposure of Shires Income investment trust to preference shares led to a fall in net asset value over the first six months of the year.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia has finally concluded public hearings and submitted a report of its works with recommendations.

A two-day sub-regional durbar, to deliberate on the issues of trade between Ghana and Burkina Faso, has been held at Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region.

The Board of Directors of the World Bank has approved a total of US$535 million to support three credit facilities aimed at helping improve economic governance and stabilizing Ghana's economy.

The national rugby team, the Welwitschias, followed their disappointing 13-13 draw in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with a quality and dominant 54-14 win at home in the return leg last week.

The Liberia National Police have been accused by a local church of being in cahoots with alleged robbers who reportedly robbed the church of over US14, 000.00

John Morlu came to the position of Auditor General of Liberia with clean records and credentials having won the admiration of the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with the backing from the international community.

DAKAR Thursday, July 02, 2009 (IRIN) - In Africa billions of dollars from oil, gas and mining revenues go missing, leaving populations dependent on international assistance, according to a new report on natural resource use on the continent.

DAKAR Thursday, July 02, 2009 (IRIN) - Calls to change Niger’s constitution to allow President Mamadou Tandja to stay in office have been met with protests from parts of Niger’s civil society, a negative ruling from the country’s highest court and a regional sanctions threat. Against the backdrop of the onset of the rainy season - and attendant concerns of heightened flooding and malnutrition - preparation continues to hold a constitutional referendum on 4 August. Below is a timeline of events that may affect Niger’s governance, regional trade and aid.

DAKAR Thursday, July 02, 2009 (IRIN) - Under a new initiative international donors are backing Africa-based policy research to improve local decision-making on complex global issues with potentially enormous humanitarian consequences like food security and climate change.

DAKAR Wednesday, July 01, 2009 (IRIN) - Researchers are launching a clinical trial with 1,500 people infected with onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Liberia, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo to test a remedy that could help stop transmission, according to drug manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Kenya and the ICC agree a new deadline to set up a special tribunal to try the ringleaders of post-election violence.

The African Union halts co-operation with the International Criminal Court over its war-crimes charges against Sudan's leader.

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho arrives in Nigeria for a three-day trip during which he will help local coaches.

BBC visits Somalia's radical guerrillas al-Shabab

Crowds of Michael Jackson fans from South Africa perform his famous dance moves in tribute to the pop icon.

The Comoros will mourn the victims of this week's plane crash for 30 days, the president of Indian Ocean nation announces.

At least 277 illegal mine workers died in South Africa in 2008. Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said between the period June 1 2008 to June 1 2009 were 142 deaths of miners lawfully employed and 135 deaths of illegal miners. It was disclosed that last year 168 workers died in legal operations. As part of measures to arrest the continued deaths,…

Niger President Mamadou Tandja has come under intense pressure by world leaders, government and regional bodies after he dissolved Parliament and assumed "emergency powers". Tandja faced stiff resistance by the international community in his bid to stay in power at "all cost." Niger which has one of the world’s largest uranium…

The Nigerian Government on Wednesday admitted that it had no more crude for its refineries to process for local consumption. The effects of militancy in the Niger Delta in Nigeria and the Federal Government's clampdown on them have shaken the foundation of the oil and gas industry in that country. Consequently, the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries…

The government of Gambia is to pay compensation to the families of the 44 murdered Ghanaians in that country in 2005. Ghana's Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Akudzeto Ablakwa, said the two governments arrived at the decision in Libya after a discussion between Presidents Atta Mills and Yahya Jammeh. The meeting was held on the sidelines of…

Kenya has detected the H1N1 flu symptoms in another patient reported to have arrived from India. The female patient is said to be a student studying in the Asian country. Panic stricken hospital staff rushed for protective masks as the patient was wheeled into the casualty section of the Kenyatta National Hospital. Patients and subordinate staff were…

Wireless G has launched a new all-in-one prepaid broadband service that enables users to connect ADSL, 3G and Wi-Fi whenever through a single provider. Wireless G CEO, Carel van der Merwe, said this would enable customers to purchase capacity that is within their reach at any particular time. He said customers could use a prepaid shared data wallet…

At least 277 illegal mine workers died in South Africa in 2008. Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said between the period June 1 2008 to June 1 2009 were 142 deaths of miners lawfully employed and 135 deaths of illegal miners. It was disclosed that last year 168 workers died in legal operations. As part of measures to arrest the continued deaths,…

Wireless G has launched a new all-in-one prepaid broadband service that enables users to connect ADSL, 3G and Wi-Fi whenever through a single provider. Wireless G CEO, Carel van der Merwe, said this would enable customers to purchase capacity that is within their reach at any particular time. He said customers could use a prepaid shared data wallet…

The Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation is creating a tourism profile of potential destinations in Nigeria that will make Nigeria a choice of sort for tourists. Olusegun Runsewe, the Director General of the Corporation said Nigeria stands the chance to make more money from tourism like it is making from oil earning, if the potential is properly…

Africa multimillion dollar business and leisure resort, Tinapa, has announced a one full year free rent for entrepreneurs who are willing to do business in the alluring resort. Tinapa is a world class integrated business resort built in 2007 as a business center that combines business activities with leisure. The resort is a $350million fine architectural…

The Liberian authorities have contracted Meredith Dekalb Miller, US FBI signature expert, to uncover an alleged money transfer scam involving high placed government officials. They are accused of transferring $1.17m from the Finance Ministry and Central Bank into an Ecobank account last Month. The senior government officials have denied the allegation…

Barely a week after World Bank gave Mozambique $31 million to help in increasing availability of reliable communication, the country is also to have $176 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The loan is expected to help uplift the southern African country's economy. Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in Africa and has…

The bodies of 30 Egyptian soldiers believed killed in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War have been found in a mass grave in the Sinai desert close to the Israeli border

Five Burundian rebels have been killed and three soldiers wounded in the worst fighting since a 2006 ceasefire

A measles epidemic in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has killed over 200 children since the start of December 2007, health workers said

Zimbabwe police chief Augustine Chihuri has warned his force will not tolerate violence in the country's elections in March