Zim holds third Antwerp gem auction

via Zim holds third Antwerp gem auction 08 September 2014

ZIMBABWE is holding its third diamond auction at Antwerp until later this month with about 500,000 carats of diamonds expected to go under the hammer, a facilitating company has said.

The auction is the country’s fifth since it started auctioning its rough diamonds on the international market in December last year.

Zimbabwe held its first diamond auction in December last year at Antwerp after the European Union lifted sanctions against state diamond firm, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation in September 2013.

The company handling the auction, Botswana-registered First Element announced at the weekend that it was holding another tender of rough diamonds from Zimbabwe from Sept. 3 to Sept. 16.

Approximately 500,000 carats from six mines – Jinan Mining, Anjin Investments, DMC, Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources and DTZ OZGEO – will go under the hammer at the auction.

The first diamond auction at Dubai Diamond Exchange in March saw the country sell about 380,000 carats of diamonds worth US$30 million.

A follow-up auction of about 1 million carats at Dubai Diamond Exchange ran for two weeks in July this year but the value generated has not been revealed.

The government has also revealed plans to trade its gems at the Shanghai and Botswana Diamond Exchanges, as well as eventually trading them locally before year end.