Two-Week Auction Of Marange Diamonds Starts In Dubai

Professor Francis Gudyanga

(IDEX Online News) – An auction of almost 1 million carats of diamonds from Zimbabwe has started at the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), with expectations that the two-week sale will generate an average price per carat of $100 per carat compared to the previous average set of $76.

Mbada Diamonds, Anjin, Jinan, Diamond Mining Corporation, DZT-OZGEO, Marange Resources and Kusena submitted parcels totaling 960,000 carats, according to Zimbabwe media reports.

The sale will be the third this year, following a January auction which led to total sales of $70 million, and an auction in March with $29.2 million generated from sales of 400,000 carats.

The DDE was chosen as the sale venue ahead of Antwerp, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Hong Kong which had all submitted bids to auction the diamonds, Bulawayo24 reported.

Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Professor Francis Gudyanga said: "All the companies were asked to prepare parcels for the auction in Dubai. 960,000 carats are ready to be auctioned and the sale will take place from July 20."