Botswana’s State-owned diamond trader, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) has delayed the auction of its Okavango Blue diamond due to the uncertainty in the diamond industry. “The state and health of the diamond market as well as the general global economic climate are important factors influencing the timing of the sale of the Okavango Blue,” ODC spokesperson Dennis Tlaang was quoted as saying by BusinessWeek.
“With the undesirable global impact of the COVID-19 crisis and associated uncertainty in the diamond industry, we will be monitoring the situation closely but have not yet committed to a specific date.”
The 20.46 carat blue diamond was recovered at Debswana’s Orapa Mine in 2018 and was named in honour of the Okavango Delta, the country's wildlife-rich world heritage site.
ODC said the diamond was one of the rarest stones in the world and "sits in the very top bracket of all-time historical blue diamond finds".
The oval-shaped stone was the biggest blue diamond ever discovered in the southern African country.
Botswana was the largest diamond producer in the world after Russia.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
The 20.46 carat blue diamond was recovered at Debswana’s Orapa Mine in 2018 and was named in honour of the Okavango Delta, the country's wildlife-rich world heritage site.
ODC said the diamond was one of the rarest stones in the world and "sits in the very top bracket of all-time historical blue diamond finds".
The oval-shaped stone was the biggest blue diamond ever discovered in the southern African country.
Botswana was the largest diamond producer in the world after Russia.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
