Looking back over 2009, it would appear that the rough diamond market has had a surprisingly good year. The rest of the year’s figures will depend on what happens over the remaining holiday season, in particular, Jewelry sales in the US.

A report from RBC Capital Markets (RBC) forecasted that it expected De Beers 2009 rough diamond sales to total $3.2bn - 46% down on 2008 levels, but still above the $3bn level that was predicted just three months ago.

A quote from the report stated “While the rough diamond market has shown surprising resilience, the public markets have also turned friendlier to diamond miners.”

Other items mentioned in the report were a string of recent fund-raisings including $120m by Petra Diamonds, $110m by Canadian junior Lucara and C$9m by Mountain Province, another Canadian junior.

RBC also predicted a strong 2010 as far as sales of rough diamonds are concerned due to the fact that De Beers has recently restarted all of its major mines. In addition, the market will also see more Russian supplies, with the cancellation of the Diavik mine winter shutdown adding to the positive forecast.