Angola’s first diamond auction is set to take place at the end of January and will feature seven gems – one of them a 114 ct stone.
The exceptional-quality diamonds were extracted from the Lulo mine in the Lunda Norte province – six white stones and a 46 ct pink diamond, as reported by Mining Weekly. Organised by Angolan diamond-trading company Sodiam, the auction is in line with Angola’s goal to become ‘increasingly more open to foreign investment by following the best global practices’, according to Sodiam CEO Eugenio Bravo da Rosa.
While Angola is renowned as a significant source of diamonds – placed in the top 10 globally – its output in 2018 dropped 11 percent from 2017 figures to 8.4 million ct. Higher gem prices, however, ‘led to an 11% increase in revenue to US$1.22 billion’, says Bravo da Rosa, citing preliminary data.
In February 2016, Lulo mine produced the country’s largest diamond to date (404 ct) and, a year later, the second-largest, at 277 ct.
