Angolan State diamond marketing company Sodiam held its third rough diamond auction on June 24, selling $56.64-million worth of diamonds recovered at the Uari, Lulo, Catoca and Luele mines.
Aside from a diversified pack of special diamonds, a batch of run-of-mine diamonds from Luele in the Luaxe region, was also made available in all sizes.
More than 50 companies participated in the auction.
The first tender organised by Sodiam took place in February 2019, in line with the country’s New Diamond Marketing Policy, while the second took place in December 2019.
Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was not possible to organise tenders in 2020, states Sodiam.
In the current virtual format of auctions, participating companies present their bids remotely in a closed model on an online platform created for this purpose.
Sodiam states that this model creates greater transparency in the process and enables a higher commercial value for available diamonds to be attained.