The sale, which ended on Wednesday, saw 1,329.89 carats offered from five different deposits, national diamond trading company Sodiam said on Thursday.
Despite difficult market conditions, “with this tender we have managed to achieve a return above the producers’ expectations, which shows us that there is still some demand for a certain category of stones in the international market,” said Sodiam chairman Eugenio Bravo da Rosa.
The stones on offer included a 180.98 carat gem and three rare pink stones weighing 66.79, 21.45 and 10.19 carats respectively.
The goods included:
A pink diamond from Somiluana, which sold for $1.5 million.
Seven stones from Lulo, which together fetched $15.7 million.
Eighteen diamonds from the Kaixepa mine, which fetched $2 million.
Seven rough pieces from Catoca that sold for $2.1 million.
Three diamonds from Luele, which sold for approximately $966,900.
The current weakness in smaller goods for the “mainstream” jewellery market “does not seem to have affected the large, high quality stones, where demand and prices remain robust,” added Nick Selby, CEO and managing director of Lucapa Diamond Company, which owns the Lulo mine.
Some 36 companies viewed the merchandise and there were 10 winning bidders, TAGS said.
“We believe this has been a very strong start to our relationship with Sodiam,” the tender house said. “TAGS hopes to announce the next event soon and to showcase goods from additional mines in the future.”
