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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score on Friday was an a so-so 81-88-141 as the TSX Venture Exchange rose four points to 591. There was some good but short-lived news from New York-based diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky this week. He began the weekly update of his global rough diamond price index by applying tardy data, which showed that last week's value of 157.8 was too pessimistic. And so, he dutifully readjusted the calculation to 158.3. Unfortunately, the new data obtained this week showed a half-point decline, back to 157.8, so rough diamond prices remain 23.6 per cent lower than their all-time of 207.4 set in February of 2022.

Rough diamond prices do appear to be flattening, finding support near the 158-point mark -- or perhaps it is just a short-term perch. The last time Mr. Zimnisky's chart showed price support -- last fall and this winter and early spring -- his index stayed close to a 182-point plateau. This puts the latest attempt at market equilibrium over 13 per cent lower than the earlier level of support.

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