Up 85%. (Keeping the pummeling…)

Botswana Q1 diamond exports up 85%. Revenues from diamond exports in the first quarter of the year are up 85 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, underscoring prevailing sentiments of recovery and stronger prospects for the gemstones in 2010, Mmegi reported. Bank of Botswana (BoB) data released this week pegs diamond export earnings at P3.48 billion for the first quarter of the year, compared to P1.9 billion for last year. Debswana, the country's sole exporter of diamonds, recorded minimal sales in January and February last year with only a slight recovery in March of that year, said the reports. While the latest statistics signify a return of revenues to the sector, the figures fall far below earnings Botswana has received from diamond exports for the corresponding periods prior to the global recession. In 2008 - the last year of the last five-year mineral boom - Botswana earned P5.9 billion from diamond exports in the first quarter, up from P5.8 billion in 2007. For the first quarter of this year, diamond revenues were driven by demand, which in turn has resulted in a gradual increase in prices in the four sights held by the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) this year. Last week, De Beers Chief Executive Officer Gareth Penny noted the positive indicators returning to the diamond market. "While not back to pre-crisis levels, we are seeing encouraging signs in the diamond market that the recovery has gained an important foothold and is continuing to gain traction," he said. "After a slightly better than expected Christmas buying period, there has been significant restocking by retailers throughout the first quarter. "In addition, US consumer confidence is improving, while China and India continue to show strong growth. This improved demand has translated into a nearly three-fold increase in the DTC's first quarter 2010 sales versus the same period last year, and the fourth sight last week has also shown strong demand from the sightholders." Prices of rough diamonds are expected to remain strong this year, supported by De Beers' "economic production" policy. The diamond giant has said it would rather keep the gemstones in the ground than mine "when it is not economical to do so". International media have quoted Penny as saying the policy was in line with "accelerating depletion" of the world's diamond resources and De Beers' need to continue the austere operational policies adopted in response to the global recession, said the report. "Do we want to ramp production back up to 48 million carats, given the lack of availability in the future? Diamonds are a treasure of nature that should be properly protected because there will be less to sell. The reality is that supply cannot keep up, and that will become very accentuated over the next 15 years," he was quoted as saying. This year, De Beers has targeted 31 million carats for 2010, 20 million of which will be expected to come from Debswana. Last year, De Beers produced 24 million carats, with Botswana contributing 17.1 million. Meanwhile, BoB statistics indicate that the same trend in mineral revenues is obtaining in other export commodities. While mineral exports have recovered in the first quarter of the year, most still fall below 2008 or pre-recession earnings, the report said.

BP Suffers Setback on Containment Dome. MAY 9, 2010, 3:49 A.M. ET. BP executives say progress has stalled in their effort to place a containment dome over the leaking rig in the Gulf of Mexico and are considering their options. BP lowered a concrete-and-steel structure known as a containment dome almost a mile to the seafloor in an effort to stop the flow of oil from the drilling site. But gas hydrates, ice-like solids that form when methane gas combines with water under certain conditions, clogged the opening at the top of the dome, preventing oil from being funneled to the surface, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, on a media conference call. "I wouldn't say it has failed," Mr. Suttles said at a news conference. "What I would say is what we attempted to do last night wasn't successful." The April 21 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast, killed 11 workers and created a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The cause of the blast is under investigation. The rig, owned and operated by Transocean Ltd., was leased to BP. Mr. Suttles said BP anticipated the formation of hydrate crystals, but not to this extent. The dome has been laid beside the leaking rig "while we evaluate what options we have" to somehow apply a heat source to the crystals "or find some other method to capture the flow," Mr. Suttles said. "We thought the size of the opening on the top of the dome would be large enough" not to get clogged by the hydrate, Mr. Suttles said. "Unclogging the hydrates is not that difficult. The issue is how to prevent it from forming again." The company plans to take two days to remove the hydrates and determine next steps. One option includes injecting methanol, a chemical used as antifreeze, to prevent hydrates from forming, Mr. Suttles said. Containment dome technology has never been used at such depths before. "We're looking at every option, and that's what we need the next two days for." A damaged underwater pipe near the site of the sunken rig is leaking oil into the Gulf at an estimated rate of 5,000 barrels a day. BP has been using floating barriers called booms in an effort to prevent the oil from reaching the shore, but Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said Saturday in the news conference that oil has been found near Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands. Three dead birds and three dead porpoises have also been found along the state's coastlines, and officials are working to determine whether oil was a factor in their deaths, Adm. Landry said. Adm. Landry, as she has repeatedly over the past week, cautioned that the "dome is no silver bullet to stop the leak. We continue to work on all fronts." Numerous private companies, local government and states are all ordering and laying booms. Ms. Landry said the Coast Guard is assisting in the effort, procuring the protectant from across the world. "We're assembling a massive amount of boom. ...We're hoping to assemble 300 million feet. I think ultimately we're going to try to deploy every single bit of boom we can find," she said. On Friday, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon incident, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he wan't certain whether enough boom exists to meet the pressing need in the Gulf of Mexico. But on Saturday, Doug Suttles, the BP chief operating officer, said the prospect of running out of boom is "premature." Separately, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced Saturday that the state is considering a plan to rebuild barrier islands off its marshy coast in an effort to protect wildlife and fish, the latter an important source of the U.S. seafood industry. The plan, which hasn't been formalized and was announced with state and local officials in a news conference Saturday, would initially ask BP to pay $200 million to dredge up 43 miles of new barrier islands, a process that would take as long as six months to complete but would begin to provide protection immediately, said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser. Gov. Jindal said officials will continue to oversee a skimming of thousands of gallons of oil and to lay boom while BP works on the containment dome. "We hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Gov. Jindal said. "We hope they get the coffer dam to work. We have to assume the worst."

Russian Mine Disaster: At least 11 Dead, 41 Injured. Posted by ZEIT ON LINE? on May 9, 2010. Eleven dead, 41 injured as coalmine explodes in Russia’s Kemerovo Region. At least 11 people have died and 41 others injured afetr a coalmine explosions in Russia’s Kemerovo Region, Itar-Tass reported a regional emergency source as saying. The explosions occurred in the Raspadskaya mine in Mezhdurechensk, the Kemerovo region, killing eleven miners and injuring 41, the source said. The rescue operation was suspended indefinitely after a second explosion in the mine, which injured more people, amid billowing smoke from the mine and fears of further explosion, Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev said. “The second explosion destroyed the main air shaft. Some people were hurt on the surface.” The report said. Raspadskaya coalmine . There is a risk of other explosions, Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev, who is at the site, told reporters. “The rescue work will continue when the atmosphere in the mine is restored, but to conduct rescue work now means to send people to die.” “After the second explosion, contact with three rescue teams — 20 rescuers — is lost, the source said.” Itar-Tass reported.
Of the 359 people who were in the mine when the first explosion occurred on Saturday at 20:55 Moscow time, 295 have been evacuated. Some 54 miners and 20 rescuers are currently trapped underground.
Kemerovo region is situated in the major coal-producing Kuzbass basin. The Raspadskaya coalmine is about 3,500km (1,900 miles) east of Moscow, and produces about 8 million metric tons of coal annually.