b'THE STATE OF RETAIL DIAMONDSJEWELRYCOLORED DESIGN STONESIn Australia, workers at the Argyle mine in Western Australiadiamond jewelry worldwide and there wasnt enough supply to meet hauled out the mines last load in November 2020. The closing of thethat surge in demand. But, he notes, I dont think that surge is mine, which had been in operation since 1983, marked the end of ansustainable. era, both from a practical and a sentimental standpoint.He projects annual global diamond supply will mainly stay In its last three years of operation, Argyle produced 14.1 millionbetween 120 million and 130 million carats through the end of the carats (2018), 13 million carats (2019), and nearly 11 million carats indecade. It will peak just above 130 million carats with the ramp-up of 2020, Rio Tinto said in its annual report for 2020. Luaxe in Angola, a project of the countrys state-run diamond com-The mine accounted for 10 percent of global production in 2020pany, Endiama, and Russian diamond miner Alrosa. and, according to Rio Tinto, was(Zimniskys forecast was current the largest producer of naturalas of press time, with the analyst colored diamonds in the world.noting he might have to revise While most of Argyles produc- it downward if Russia curtails tion consisted of brown diamonds,production in light of the ongoing the mine became famous for thesituation in Ukraine.) exquisitely coloredalbeit rela- There is diamond exploration tively smallpink, red and purpleunderway, including the aforemen-diamonds it produced over thetioned searches on Canadas Mel-years.ville Peninsula and Baffin Island, Rio Tinto took the best of thesewhere De Beers has the Chidliak stones on a world tour every yearProject it acquired as part of its as part of the Argyle Pink Dia- 2018 purchase of diamond devel-monds Tender. Over the years, theopment and exploration company highly saturated stones becamePeregrine Diamonds Ltd.coveted collectors items, sky- Zimnisky says he expects rocketing in price and morphingChidliak to be the next mine De into a luxury brand all their own.Beers activates, and De Beers (Literally; Rio Tinto has retainedincluded it on a list of notable Argyle Pink Diamonds as a branddiamond projects on the horizon in its portfolio.) in a recent Diamond Insight Re-One diamond dealer with anport, though it has not specified a affinity for the Argyle pinks andlaunch date.purples likened the closure of theIn Australia, efforts are un-mine to the death of a great artist,derway to find another source while others note the lasting effectof natural colored diamonds to its closure will have on global supply.replace Argyle, and one of the most As Bains Linde notes, 11 millionnotable of these exploration efforts carats a year is not easy to replace,involves an old mine. but that does not mean companiesAustralian company India Bore are not willing to try, particularly asDiamond Holdings and Burgundy rough diamond prices climb. Diamond Mines are both vying to Pictures from the closing of Argyle show, at top, a final shot inside the mines undergroundrestart Ellendale, the mine that portal and, at bottom, Abdul Jenzarli, the underground operator of the mines last ton of TIMEore. (Photos courtesy of Rio Tinto) once produced high-quality fancy Following COVID shutdownsyellow diamonds sold by high-end in 2020, diamond jewelry demandretailers like Tiffany & Co. rebounded more quickly than expected, spurred by the lack of oppor- Overall, however, spending on diamond exploration has been tunity to spend money on experiences and travel, and the emotionaldeclining for years. Data from S&P Global shows companies spent draw of the stones. $202 million in exploration in 2021, a fraction of the $986 million Linde says all the investments the industry has made in recentspent at its peak in 2008. years in emphasizing storytelling and emotion when selling diamondsIt could pick up again if diamond prices stay at their current levelspaid off when the pandemic hit. rough prices rose 21 percent in 2021, according to Bainor go even Diamonds struck a chord. They [diamond marketers] were alwayshigher, but new mines dont come online overnight, and the industry telling people about emotional connections and during the pandemicisnt likely to see a significant shift in supply this decade.consumers turned to that.Zimnisky, however, doesnt think this is necessarily a negative. An unexpectedly bullish 2020 rolled into a 2021 that was equally,While some might describe the market as undersupplied in the and again surprisingly, strong for diamond sales. near future, he views 120 million-130 million carats as a healthy Zimnisky says 2021 broke a record for end-consumer demand forlevel of supply for an industry that has, at times, been oversupplied. 54 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2022'