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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score on Friday was a yawn-inducing 82-73-155 as the TSX Venture Exchange rose six points to 797. Paul Zimnisky's global rough diamond price index edged lower for the second week in a row -- the most significant decline since a one-month dip in March. Yes, prices remain flattish if not steady, but the loose right end of Mr. Zimnisky's chart is now flapping ever so close to the horizontal dashed line depicting the latest price plateau.

Mr. Zimnisky had thrown up several other dashed lines since rough diamond prices peaked in early 2022, but if they were meant to be a metaphorical trench of defence, or perhaps an amulet to ward off misfortune, they all quickly failed once the chart dipped below the line. And so, here we sit, with the index now at 126.2, down another 0.4 point this week, putting it just a sliver above the dashed line patrolling the 126-point mark.

And yet, there is hope. Yes, the index is 81 points below its all-time high, a drop of 39.2 per cent in barely three years, but there is variance in the gloom. Producers of smallish gems are faring badly, and for an idea of just how badly, tune in next month when Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (MPVD) reports its second quarter results. (Mountain's first shoe dropped earlier this week, along with its stock price, on word of another gloomy production report. It was expected news, but Mountain Province has nevertheless returned to its five-cent all-time low, dropping one-half cent to five cents on 177,000 shares today.)

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