Lucara Diamond said it sold a 9.46 carat blue diamond mined from its Karowe mine, in Botswana for $4.5 million or $477,272 per carat.
Also included in the sale was a second small blue diamond weighing 0.64 carats which was sold for $24,500 or $38,282 per carat, it said in a statement emailed to Rough&Polished.
“The sales numbers for our fourth sale of Karowe diamonds are a fantastic result for Lucara,” said company chief executive William Lamb.
“The value received for the exceptionally rare blue diamond has added significantly to the sale. “The occurrence of the two blue diamonds sold confirm the excellent quality of the resource at Karowe.”
Lucara said that a total of 52 lots were put up for sale containing 56,982 carats of diamonds.
All lots were sold, for an average price of $300 per carat yielding gross proceeds of $17.14 million.
It said the final sale of Karowe diamonds in 2012 would take place in December with an expected sales volume of about 57 000 carats.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
