The 'barn find' Cars of Roger Baillon

A team from French auction house Artcurial Motorcars discovered a treasure trove of “barn find” condition cars, five dozen cars from the Roger Baillon collection in western France in late 2014. They wore badges from the likes of Ferrari and Maserati as well as prewar greats like Delahaye and Bugatti. The whole collection was sold by Artcurial at their annual Paris sale.

The specialists at Artcurial regularly traverse France finding cars for sales. This was definitely the find of a lifetime. Sixty collector cars in one place is something special, but the quality of the machinery found was the stuff dreams are made of. Included were cars from Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot-Lago, Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche, Delahaye, Delage and Facel Vega as well as coachwork by famous names like Chapron and Saoutchik. Even grimy and neglected, any one of them would be an incredible find on its own.

One car that was the highlight at auction was the 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB California Spider. Found under a pile of papers, it is one of just 37 built, and was thought lost by marque car experts. The last SWB California Spider to sell at auction went for $15 million. This example made $18,586,482.

The cars were amassed by shipping magnate Roger Baillon in hopes of one day opening a museum. Some of the cars were bought in the 1950s by Baillon who dreamt of restoring them to their former glory. 1936 Panhard et Levassor Dynamic X76.

Talbot-Lago T26

1949 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport SWB

A Frua-bodied Maserati A6G 2000 brought $2,280,550. Two Saoutchik-bodied Talbo-Lago T26s from the collection also found spots in the top ten with a 1949 Grand Sport SWB bringing $1,938,467. A 1948 Record Cabriolet sold for $849,504.

1956 Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Sport Berinetta

Saputo Inc. - SAP.t

Saputo Inc. - SAP.t produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the best quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products and dairy ingredients. Saputo is the one of the finest dairy processors in the world, the largest in Canada, the third in Argentina and the fourth in Australia. In the US, the Company ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.

On November 10, 2016 the company released News
"Saputo Inc. (TSX: SAP) (Saputo or the Company) announced today it may purchase for cancellation up to 1,000,000 of its common shares pursuant to private agreements with an arm's-length third-party seller. The common shares so purchased would be counted towards the 19,547,976 common shares Saputo is entitled to repurchase for cancellation under its normal course issuer bid announced on November 12, 2015.
http://canadastockjournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/saputo-inc-sapt.html

World's Top Diamond Mines

ALROSA has 10 primary diamond mines, 10 alluvial mines, and 2 mines in development in Russia. ALROSA produced about 38 million carats in 2015. The company holds a 32.8% stake in the Catoca mine in Angola. ALROSA’s mines represent 8 out of the top 15 largest producing diamond mines in the world in terms of carats produced. Jubilee and Nyurbinskaya mines produced over 9 million carats in 2015 making them the fourth and fifth largest projects in the world.

1.) Jwaneng : Botswana. It is owned by Debswana. (50% DeBeers, 50% Botswana government) Jwaneng is the second largest diamond mine in Botswana and is nearing completion of the Cut-8 expansion, which will extend the mine life to at least 2025. Cut-8 will provide access to approximately 95 million carats of high quality diamonds, making Jwaneng the most valuable diamond reserve in the world. Jwaneng produced over 10.4 million carats of diamonds worth $1.6 billion in 2015.

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2.) Argyle : Australia. The Argyle mine in northwest Australia is owned and operated by Rio Tinto. The mine began production in 1985. The Argyle mine is known as the worlds largest producer of fancy coloured diamonds. It produced 12.6 million carats in 2014, making it the second largest diamond mine in the world in terms of carats produced. The recent move to full underground mining will extend the mine life to at least 2019.

	3.) Orapa : Botswana. Orapa is Debswana-owned. Botswana’s Orapa mine was the worlds largest diamond mine in terms of total value of carats produced in 2014. Orapa is estimated to be the worlds largest by value, estimated to produce $1.9 billion worth of diamonds. In 2015 the Orapa mine produced about 11 million carats.
	4.) Catoca : Angola. Catoca is owned and operated by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, a joint venture of the state-run mining company Endiama (32.8%), Alrosa (32.8%), China Sonagol (18%), and Odebrecht Mining (16.4%). The mine went into production in 1997 and is expected to produce 60 million carats over its lifetime, about 35% of which are gem quality.
	5.) Diavik : Canada. The mine is owned by a joint venture between the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation and Rio Tinto Group. The mine consists of three kimberlite pipes associated with the Lac de Gras kimberlite field and is located on an island 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) in Lac de Gras. It is about 220 km (140 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The Diavik Mine produced 6.1 million carats in 2015.

6.) Venetia : South Africa. The Venetia mine is owned and operated by De Beers. The open-pit mine began production in 1992 and now produces about 40% of South African total diamond production. The mine produced over 4 million carats in 2015 with production valued at over $500 million.

7. Ekati : Canada. The Ekati mine is 80%-owned by BHP Billiton. The open-pit mine began operations in 1998. The Diavik Mine reported 39.6 million carats of proven reserves and 13.7 million carats of probable reserves at the beginning of 2015. The current mine plan is expected to take the mine’s production to 2023. About 4 million carats were produced in 2015.