Russian Rich Kids, and Diamonds Too

While Russia could face more severe sanctions as the situation in East Ukraine remains tense, Morgan Stanley analysts rule out diamonds from any future bans on Russian exports.

Investors welcomed news this morning that AIM listed mining group Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) was set to buy the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa from De Beers for R1.425 billion (£126.6m). The Petra Diamonds share price surged by 11% to 180p during the morning. Finsch is one of the world's major diamond mines and South Africa's second largest diamond mine by production.

Investors welcomed news this morning that AIM listed mining group Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) was set to buy the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa from De Beers for R1.425 billion (£126.6m). The Petra Diamonds share price surged by 11% to 180p during the morning. Finsch is one of the world's major diamond mines and South Africa's second largest diamond mine by production.

By Christopher De Sousa:Mountain Province Diamonds (NYSEMKT:MDM) is a 49% stakeholder with De Beers (51%) in the Gahcho Kué diamond project in Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT). Gahcho Kué stands out as the largest and highest-grade diamond mine in development in the world.

Diamond mining group De Beers reported a return to profit Friday, saying a boom year in diamonds in 2010 had made it "highly cash generative and profitable."The world's largest diamond company reported sales of $5.9 billion dollars (4.3 billion euros) in 2010, up from 3.8 billion dollars the year before, and a profit of 638 million dollars, up from a loss of 32 million dollars in 2009."2010 was an extraordinary year that saw De Beers rapidly move from stabilisation to strong recovery," the company's directors said in a statement.

By Christopher De Sousa:Mountain Province Diamonds (NYSEMKT:MDM) is a Canadian exploration and mining company focused on advancing its Gahcho Kué diamond project. Gahcho Kué is a joint venture project between Mountain Province (49%) and De Beers Canada (51%).