News: Markets quiet with retailers hoping that last minute Christmas sales will

boost uneventful U.S. holiday season. Online selling still a hot trend with overall
sales +4% over 2008, while in-store sales projected at +1%. DTC Dec. sight est.
$280m with sightholders expecting increased 1Q 2010 supply from De Beers and
ALROSA to ease pressure on rough prices. Christies NY sells $25m (85% by lot)
with 7.02 ct., fancy intense blue, VS1 diamond going for $3.9m ($554k/ct.).
Belgium Nov. polished exports -22% to $739m, rough imports +43% to $732m.
India Nov. polished exports +123% to $1.3b, rough imports +43% to $897m.
Israel Nov. polished exports +49% to $524m, total rough and polished imports
+75% to $696m. Australia 3Q diamond production -49% to 2.5 million ct., rough
exports -65% to $59m ($24/ct.).

WORLD:

Gokhran to Sell Gold to Central Bank

Russia's deputy prime minister, Alexei Kudrin, who is also the country's finance
minister, authorized the sale of gold from state repository Gokhran to the
country’s Central Bank (CB). Gold would be priced at the London fixing on the eve
of the sale. That would have been $1,124 an ounce or $36,137 per kilogram on
December 16, for example. Gokhran plans to sell 30 tons of gold to the CB this
year.

Kudrin said the gold sale was an anti-crisis measure and that the Finance Ministry
did not plan to sell any more gold in the near future. He noted that the Finance
Ministry regards the move as a good deal because gold prices are currently high,
while diamond prices are low. The gold sale will also support miners and the
regional budgets, Kudrin said.

Mozambique Observes Illegal Diamond Activity

Diamonds smuggled out of Zimbabwe are being illegally sold on the Mozambican
side of the border in Manica town, according to the administrator of Manica
District, Jose Tefula. Zimbabwe's diamond deposits are located nearby in the
province of Manicaland. These deposits have attracted a high number of
foreigners, notably from Nigeria, Somalia and the Great Lakes region, some of
whom are renting rooms in Manica.

Manica district has an overwhelmingly peasant population, but in recent months,

some people here have acquired substantial wealth, judging by the number of
luxury four-wheel-drive vehicles now on the roads. This is attributed to the illicit
trade in diamonds, which are believed to come from the Marange region in
Manicaland. The diamonds are sold in Manica at night and the going price
mentioned by the radio report was about $50 (1,350 meticais) per gram.
Immigration authorities in Machipanda, the main border post of Zimbabwe, have
announced the seizure of more than half a kilo of Zimbabwe diamonds.

In this week's broadcast: The Diamond Trading Company's (DTC) December sight
reported an estimated value of $280 million. Online retail sales from November 1
from $67.6 million in November 2008.