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Gilbertson in Alrosa supply talks Posted: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 [miningmx.com] -- PALLINGHURST Resources, the mining firm founded by veteran mining executive, Brian Gilbertson, may buy diamonds from Russian firm Alrosa and sell them under its newly acquired Fabergé brand. Pallinghurst is also in discussions with BHP Billiton on the possibility of buying diamonds from the Ekati mine. However, it's thought Gilbertson's firm would prefer buying rough from the Russians. "It would entrench the Russian heritage angle of Fabergé," a market source said. Pallinghurst has the opportunity to buy diamonds from Alrosa because a long-standing marketing agreement between Alrosa and De Beers is expected to be terminated. De Beers was ordered by the European Union (EU) to relinquish a $700m marketing agreement with Alrosa from 2009 down to around $275m by 2011. But in an interesting development, this court judgement was over-ruled by the European Court in an action brought by Alrosa. Some analysts believe De Beers will comply with the EU nonetheless. For its part, De Beers said it was undecided about whether it continue buying from Alrosa. It's thought De Beers is considering the merits of whether continuing to buy Alrosa diamonds will entrench its stigma as a monopoly. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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